BlacK MagiC
by Juliette Angel
Summary: New chapter added!!! Sexual tension between Max and Logan while they are trying to solve a Religious crime and while Max tries to cook a dinner for Logan. There's humour /Action too.
1. Poppy Seed

This is my second story! And I'm glad it is so. I know I'm not the best writer, but I'm really trying to make the words slide...smooth...lol! Anyway, I like doing it, and I know I'm better now then at first. Thank you people for reading SHE, for those who did.   
  
DISCLAMER: Chick Eglee and the Titanic guy are the ones owning the regulars of DA, and not me, so don't sue. I'm poor and I can't afford a lawyer...I may be able to afford Brownie some day.  
  
AUTHOR'S NOTE: This is happening after HAVEN, so I'M just going on with the story at this moment. Today. just enjoy and please give me reviews. And if you are a big religious person, some things are said here that could offend your beliefs, BE WARNED.   
  
Oh! And I promise it wont be as long as SHE...lmao!   
PG-13   
This part has some language issues, but it's only for this one chapter.  
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Y BlacK MagiC Y   
  
Chapter One: Poppy Seeds  
  
Max got out of her place, she was in a frantic mood. Original Cindy has been trying to calm her down all morning, but without any success.  
  
"Damn boo! You gotta relax! It's days away before you get your freakin' meal done, so why don't you sit, and sip your coffee like a normal girl?" Max was looking everywhere for poppy seeds, and Original Cindy was going to break her neck. Max was so stressed out, it was very annoying. "What are you looking for?" She asked Max, thinking she wasn't probably going to stop until she got what she needed, and since she was getting on her nerves this morning, turning upside down the whole kitchen, Cindy decided it was a dead end with Max. "Max, I know you're nervous for that cooking your doing in 3 days or so...but please, it's 8:00 in the morning. You're NOT going to cook now?!" Original Cindy asked in disbelief. 'She's crazy over that man!'  
  
"Where's the poppy seeds I bought a few days ago?" Max asked, totally ignoring Original Cindy's request to stop her Food Mania. She was cooking for Logan next Saturday, since the diner she had planned for him had highly failed, and she wanted it to be perfect.   
  
"I took them." Said Original Cindy to Max, who suddenly stopped her search and stared at her. "And baked them."  
  
"Are YOU fucking kidding me boo? Did you know how long it took me to find those poppy seeds?" Max almost yelled at her.  
  
"I made some muffins with it, look, there in the freezer!" Cindy said to Max, opening the door to show them to her. "I didn't know it was for THAT!"  
  
"I need poppy seeds for the recipe!" Max said, in defeat, sitting on a chair. "I'll never be able to pull that off. I need to follow steps, and now there's one step missing in the freaking recipe! I'll screw up and I'll stay forever with the sticker "Max can't cook" on my face." She said to Original Cindy, while doing the gesture of the sticker stuck on her forehead.  
  
"Come on Max...You can kick 10 butts with one kick! You surely can cook a diner for your boyfriend!" She said to her, knowing perfectly Max was going to deny the whole 'boyfriend' thing.  
  
"He's not my boyfriend...how many times do I have to tell you this? It's getting on my nerves!" Max said defensively angry.  
  
"And YOU'RE getting on MY nerves! Can you be so BLIND not to see how MUCH each of you CARES for one another?...Original Cindy is just so tired of all this game! You're just plain stupid." She said to Max to make her react. "Both of you!"  
  
"WHAT?!" Me? Stupid?!  
  
"Yes YOU boo! Now go buy your freakin' poppy seeds before Original Cindy turns white for listening to your denials one more time!" She said to Max, who got out of the room wanting to kick her best boo's butt.   
  
While riding her bike, Max was talking to herself, frustrated by the morning's events.  
'The nerves of her this morning! Who the hell does she think she is to tell ME that? Me? Stupid? What is she talking about? And I'm sick of her telling me Logan is my boyfriend, because he's NOT, and as I can see things go, I'll be freakin' dead when it will happen! He's always pushing me away...well, not always, but...' Max stopped her thoughts, knowing inside of her that they were both to blame for not having done a move toward each other since the car kiss. 'Caring about me MY ASS!' Max said to herself on the way to the store. 'He wanted to blow his fucking brain out! What does THAT say to you boo about him, huh?' She was raging inside for whatever reason, all of the above and all the ones she missed to mention. 'I'm just an employee to him! Why do you even care Max? Huh? Never mind...And I'm still here busting my ass for him! And why? WHY?! He'll eat, say thank you very politely and leave, and then everything will stay the same!...Do I want something to change? He cares, I know deep inside he does, but it would be nice for him to show it sometimes! Oh yes, he saved my life at Cape Haven, so what? Give him a freakin' medal!' She stopped in front of the grocery shop and got in. ' I'm trying to make a nice meal for him and he better not bail on me or I'll kick his cute little ass without him see it coming!...Did I just say cute? Only a damn earthquake or a tornado will keep me from doing this diner ...Is that clear Logan Cale? You better not pull another Eyes Only Conquest or I'll defenestrate all your computers and you with them! Now, where are my damn poppy seeds?' She took a breath, claming herself, until she saw the poppy seed's place empty. 'I'm going to kill Original Cindy!.......Relax girl! Gosh...this whole thing really is getting on my nerves! Maybe boo was right...Well, we'll think about it another day. Now I have to find some freaking poppy seeds.' After all, nothing had happened with Logan to make her angry. Since they had come back from the *vacation*, everything was all good, they even got more comfortable with each other. She was taking this meal challenge way too seriously and it was affecting her brain.   
  
She got out of the grocery shop, and her pager beeped.   
  
"Shit! Logan...I forgot! Damn! I forgot!" Max was supposed to go look at the sister's Church last night, and with the entire food thing she was trying to do, she forgot to go. 'He must have been waiting for my call this morning...'  
"Damn you Logan for making me such a nervous wreck!" Max started her bike and headed to the church, preferring not to think about the reason why Logan was making her in such an unstable mental state. "I better go do it right now, this way I wont have to answer his 'Why did you forgot?' question." I don't even know the answer myself...or do I?  
"Oh shut up!" Max said to herself, wanting to stop the thinking.  
  
There have been 6 suicides from the Sisters of the Jesus Church since last month, and Matt had asked Logan to take a peek at it. They weren't able to find any evidence it was murder at the police station, and Matt knew Eyes Only could do something with it and that he probably would solve the mystery, so he called Logan.   
  
******  
When Logan had talked to Max, she had snorted over the mention of God.   
  
" I don't understand how you can give your life to God." Max had said to him. "How can you fall in love with God? That is plain stupid..." Max thought religion was bullshit.  
  
"Never underestimate the power of Religion. Nor the power of the Church." Logan had replied to Max. "Those women find peace in God, so what can I tell you? It's their choices. They devoted themselves to the love of God, praying to him, asking for forgiveness and compassion. Love." The diplomatic Logan had spoken again.  
  
"I'm having enough trouble loving normal people, so a Spirit? " She rolled her eyes to the roof, before she realized what she had just said and then, got them back staring at Logan.  
  
"Love is the strongest feeling ever existing, and the more complex too. It can drive you to Heaven, and then to Hell in a flash. But while you're in Heaven, you see Angels..." He had said to her, smiling.  
  
'What are you trying to say Logan...' Max had thought. 'And please stop looking at me so dearly.'  
"Why should I believe in God, when I know I was made in a laboratory with probably no soul to save? God never helped me not being tortured by your Dr.Vertes and company!" Max had said back, still hurt by the fact that Logan had played behind her back. "And he never did anything to help Eva either, nor all the X5 when our Dear Daddy ordered us to do despicable things you wouldn't even dream of thinking and all we wanted was to die. I did anyway, I can't speak for the others." Only an idiot wouldn't see that Max was deeply hurt.  
  
Logan had looked at her without saying a word, knowing nothing could get him out of this one. 'She's still mad at me for this...'  
  
"I'm sorry." He only said, not knowing if it was because of Dr.Vertes, or for having wanted to put a bullet in his brain, or for all of the things Max lived at Manticore. So, they just stared at each other without saying anything. Sometimes words aren't necessary.  
  
*******  
  
Max got in front of the Jesus Church and opened the big doors in woods that were in front of her. It was very beautiful and calm inside, and there was a few sisters sitting in the front seats, praying. She walked a few feet and turned left, where she had just seen a door. She looked around and there was no one watching her, so she pushed the door and got in. It was the stairs to the second floor where the organ was, she climbed them up carefully, and when she was almost done, she heard a voice. A male voice, and it sounded like he was talking to himself, but when Max silently approached her head to be able to see what was going on, she saw a tall man, about 50 years old, talking to one of the sisters, who looked like she was into a trance. 'What the hell?' Max thought to herself.   
There was a recorder on the table, near the man, who was wearing a dark grey suit. 'I have to get that recording machine for Logan...' She didn't understand all that he was saying, because it was a language she had never heard before.   
She looked around for clues and saw the big Jesus Christ statue, which was pinned on the beam in front of her. She walked near the banister and looked down, all the sisters had their heads down into a prayer, so she wasn't about to be seen. Max studied the height of the second floor in comparison to the first, and came to the conclusion, that with the fall, nobody would get hurt, and it would definitely stop the little game the man in the grey suit was playing. Max jumped to the ceiling, holding on to a beam if the church's roof, and gave the Jesus statue the biggest kick she could find breaking it away from where it was pinned, and making it fall down on the wax floor with a crash. The enormous sound of the statue landing, was added to the surprised cries of all the sisters, who were now standing in shock looking at the Jesus statue. Max hid herself from the man, who stormed out of the room, and who ran down the stairs.   
Max walked into the room, where the woman was still sitting on her chair, not seeing her at all, focusing on some space invisible to Max. She took the tape recorder machine, and opened the window, to jump to the roof of the building next to the church.  
  
"That will get them occupied for some time!..." She said to herself, unable to stop laughing from the faces they had when the statue had fallen. "Those poor sisters thought that the Wrath of Jesus was upon them!"   
Max found herself trapped on the roof, with no escape to go. There was only a window from the jewellery store, which had been shut with wood. She started to break it to go in. "A girl's gotta get herself out of this mess!" She jumped into the room, who was more of the attic of the store, and who was full of jewelry boxes. "Holy shit?!" Max said out loud, giggling over the holy part, since she had just kicked Jesus' butt.   
She was very tempted to take something while lurking at the boxes with great desire, stealing a necklace could feed her during 8 months, but she decided that she must not. 'Plus, Logan wouldn't like me using Eyes Only's work to fill my pockets. Plus...he's feeding me when I'm hungry...What is all that Steal&Logan crap about?' She asked herself at the end, opening the door to get the hell away from there, but she came face to face with a police officer who put a gun to her head. 'Great!' She kicked the gun away from him, taking it in her hands and unloaded it in a flash. An other cop surprised her and she jumped and kicked him right in the stomach, making him cry for help.  
  
"Seems like God isn't helping you Big Boy?!" Replied Max when she heard the man say 'Oh God' in a breath, and then she punched him right in the face.  
She turned around to go down the stairs, but the first cop grabbed her ankle, which made her stumble, and then tumble down the stairs, her face smashing right in the opposite wall, snapping her unconscious.  
  
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Max woke up tied up to a chair, a few minutes later. She looked around suddenly in alert, 'Enemy territory.', but she saw that she was in front of a desk who's name marked on was Det. Matt Sung. She closed her eyes in relief, and then remembered what happened. 'What a stupid move I did there! You're to blame for this Logan Cale, making me focus on you instead of on the objective!' She yelled in her head, who was hurting like Hell because of the bump she got from the fall.  
A man walked near her, and sat down. He was about 45 years old, fat, and not in a good mood.  
  
"Look missy, we do not know who you are since you don't seem to have any papers on you, so why don't you tell me?" He said to Max in a very annoyed tone.  
  
"Where's Detective Matt Sung? I want to speak to him only." She asked the man, feeling the hurt increasing on the right side of her head, where the big bump was starting to swell.  
  
"He's on vacation...Why? You know him?" he asked, as if to say 'you know him because you're here often'.  
  
"On vacation…This is great...Can I make a phone call then?" 'I have to talk to Logan.'  
  
"Why sweetie, do you need a lawyer?" He said back, sounding like he was singing.  
  
"I didn't steal anything and if you looked in my pockets, you would have known!" She shouted back at the man who was lurking at her with perversity.  
  
"No, I didn't look, you were sleeping, couldn't touch you then. And what kind of a thief would you be if you were stealing around the city with papers on you?...but I'm starting to wonder if a strip search would be of necessity." He said, studying her.   
  
"You touch me with one finger and I'll kick your ass so hard, you wont be able to sit on hit for the rest of your life! Now let me make my phone call, that much I know I am entitled to!" Max was furious, again. 'Outch!…my head…'  
  
" The little girl has a filthy mouth...Fine, call your pimp or something." He got out of the room after untying her hands. She couldn't really go out of there easily anyway.  
  
Max dialled Logan's number, and it took 2 minutes before he answered.  
"Hiya!" He said in an unusual happy voice.   
  
"Glad to see someone's having a better day than me!" She said to Logan.   
  
"Max! What a surprise...I was starting to miss you since you didn't call yesterday." He said mockingly, knowing it was her when the phone had rang.  
  
"Look Logan, I usually enjoy myself playing games, but now is not time nor the place. I'm in jail." She said, not very enjoying the smile she was sure he was wearing right now. "They arrested me from a jewellery store." 'And I'm not in the mood for a lecture.'  
  
" Oh!…Are you okay? Did they see your barcode? Did they took pictures yet?" He wasn't smiling at all, and he was more afraid of what they might find on Max than playing games with her.   
  
"I'm fine now. And no they didn't take pictures, I just woke up. I was trying to escape when I tumbled down the stairs…and I crashed into a wall like a bird not looking where he's going." She said discouraged of how she completely messed up her mission. 'I guess he's not smiling after all.'  
  
Logan was biting his tongue very hard not to laugh over the image of Max crashing in a wall. 'At least she's alright.'  
  
"And what do you think I can do to help?" He was already trying to contact Matt from his computer, but he couldn't help but make her sweat a little, since he was pissed that she'd been stolen in a jewellery store. 'Why does she always have to do that?'  
  
"Anything! Damn it Logan! Get me out of here!" She yelled into the phone, thinking he was actually letting her rot in there.  
  
"Why? If you decided to steal, you should face the consequences of your act." He answered back, in a bad mood. 'Why isn't Matt answering my e-mail?' He scratched his head.  
  
"For the record, I didn't steal. But thanks for the vote of confidence Logan." She stopped talking to him and turned towards the police officer that just returned to the office, smiling at Max, walking near her. "I'm warning you to get your filthy hands off of me one last time!" She shouted to the man. "You won't strip search me in this life time!" She said, fire getting out of her eyes.  
  
"Here goes my dream..." Said Logan to himself in a very low voice, giggling. "Max...what's going on?" Logan asked, out of concern, and sorry he had accused her of stealing.  
  
She waited for the man to get out of the room again to speak.  
"Don't you go think I didn't hear the first part, and secondly, I was addressing myself to the pervo who was staring at me like I'm fresh meat!" Logan decided to drop any comments, since he had forgot Max had super hearing faculties. "I went to the place we talked about, and I got stuck on a roof with no place to go, but to break and entering the jewellery store, and I got caught." And then she stopped talking.  
"And then you fell…" Logan added.  
  
"Yeah, thanks for refreshing my memory…" She said, not knowing if she should laugh at herself or not. "And I have a big bump on my head too." 'Make him sweat Max…it's his turn!'  
  
"What? Are you okay?" Damn…  
  
"Yeah...my head is swelling though." 'And I have a fucking headache.'  
  
"Where's Matt? I can't get a hold of him on my computer…He'll get you out." Logan said affirmatively.  
  
"He's on VACATION!" Max said the lasted part louder.   
  
"Oh...that's true...he told me, I just forgot. Damn! Do they have a warrant against you?"  
  
"I don't know...Logan, can they really do a strip search on me?" She asked, a little embarrassed, but she didn't know what it took for them to be able to do that. "He said they will strip search me if I don't give them what I have...The thing is that I don't have anything since I didn't steal, but that's hard to believe when you find a girl hiding in the attic of a jewellery store...But what about my barecode? And I have something else I found at the church...I don't think they know I have it on me, since I put it in my b...hmm..." It sounded awkward to Max to mention her bra to Logan, so she didn't say the word, but she figured he would understand what she meant, and he did.  
  
"Oh..." He said softly, but then realized she had talked about the strip search again, and earlier, he had thought she was joking. "WHAT? Strip search?! Max no, they can't...You didn't try to get drugs out of the country or something!…The only reason he would do so, is because he wants to enjoy the view...No, no, no, it can't happen, and it won't...I want to talk to him, give him the phone." Logan said to Max, more demanding than asking.  
  
"What will you say to him." She asked back, curious.  
  
"A guy's gotta have secrets too...Give him the phone and I'll talk to him." Logan didn't want to reveal all his good methods of persuasion. "Do it Max!"  
  
"Fine." Max said, and then yelled at the police officer to take the phone since someone wanted to talk to him. He looked at her and took it reluctantly. Max watched him saying only "...Ahan...hmm...okay..." during 5 minutes, and then hung up.   
  
"You can go now, and I better never caught you again." Max stared at the man in shock, and walked away from him, hoping she would never have to see him again. 'Lets get the Hell out of here!' She stormed out of the Police Station in a flash.  
  
'What did Logan say to him? It took him 5 minutes and the guy dropped all charges against me.' She wondered, glad to finally get out of there. 'He'll never seize to amaze me.'   
  
She took a breath of fresh air, and tried to relax herself. She had to walk a long way back to her bike. She looked at her watch. 3:00PM.   
  
"And ALL I freakin' wanted this morning was those damn poppy seeds!" She shouted out loud into the air, furious she had missed the entire day.  
  
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Please give me reviews...I can't live without reviews...  
Anna  
  



	2. Herbal's Cookie

Y BlacK MagiC Y   
  
Chapter two: Herbal's Cookie  
  
It took Max about an hour to walk back to her bike; she didn't want to call Logan, because she knew he would have laughed at her for having left her "baby" near the church. Once on her bike, she took a short cut and headed out to Logan's apartment..   
She was just mentally tired of the whole day and wanted to be done with the whole Church thing for today.  
When she got to his apartment, she was surprised to see his front door open. 'What the hell? It's never open.' She felt her heart squeeze in her chest and her throat was all dry, which made it harder to swallow. 'Oh God, let him be alright!' Max slowly pushed the door, thinking he might be in trouble, but she saw him quietly cutting some fresh lettuce at the kitchen table, and then she relaxed and took a deep breath. 'I'm gonna die young with the emotions he's making me feel these days!'   
  
"Hiya!" He said to Max, smiling.  
  
"Why did you leave the door open? I thought I might find you with an open throat or something!" She said to him, while he still smiled.   
  
"I saw you from the window, and I opened the door like the good host I am...So, how much were you worried?" He asked her wickedly.  
  
"Shut up Logan Cale! You KNOW it could have happened...There are thousands of people out there who would love to cut your head off because of Eyes Only, and Lydecker is one of them. So spare me the crap about me worrying for you, I'm not in the mood today." As a matter of fact, she wasn't.  
  
Logan stared at Max, realizing that she was really pissed at him for scaring the hell out of her. She sat in front of him and started cutting the tomatoes in cubes without saying a word. He wanted to ask her 'since when you can cut tomatoes so perfectly', but he shut up, as she asked him to.   
Logan didn't know that Max had been cooking since Monday, trying all kinds of recipes to see what she could and couldn't do. The least she wanted to do was to give him a meal that wasn't eatable at all! So all the thing she baked this week, Original Cindy had to taste them to tell her what she thought. That was part of the reason why our Cindy was sick of Max and her Food Mania…she was sick of tasting everything. So with all the food she made, Max was more agile with the knife. But of course, she would never admit to Logan that she worked her ass out for him.   
  
"What did you find at the church?" Asked Logan, trying to smooth things up with Max. 'I guess her day really sucked.'  
  
Max put her hand in her shirt, as if searching for something in her bra, but she couldn't control herself anymore and burst into laughs as she saw the face Logan was making,   
  
"I'm kidding..." Max said laughing, taking the recorder from her right pocket. "You should have seen your face!" She was still laughing, and Logan was blushing through the roots of his hair. "Ah... ", said Max a few seconds later, "It felt great to laugh after that bad ass day I just had!"  
  
"Glad I could cheer you up!" Logan said, still dazzled by what he had just seen Max do. He pushed on the rewind button and then on play. They both listened carefully, and he frowned. "What is that language?"  
  
"I don't know, but I think its Hebrew." Max said back. "We didn't learn that language at Manticore since it almost doesn't exist anymore." She stopped talking when she smelled something very good. 'Damn! That smells like Heaven!'  
  
"I made lasagna..." Logan said, not asking her to stay for dinner, since she was going to stay anyway. It was like an understanding now, no real need of asking. "And what was that guy doing?" He asked Max, still thinking about the tape.  
  
"The man was in a very clean cut gray suit, and he was saying those words repeatedly to the sister who was sitting in front of him, on a chair, her eyes focusing on something I couldn't see, and she was in a complete trance. She didn't see me, even when I stared at her not two feet away. She was catatonic. Hypnotized." Max said to Logan, who was in his thoughts. "What are you thinking?" He got out of his thoughts and smiled at Max.  
  
"You know me too well...I was thinking about something an informant told me two years ago. If my memory is accurate, the..." Max stopped him.  
  
"Tell me one time when it wasn't?" She looked at him, daring him to remember one time when his memory had failed him, knowing there wasn't any.  
  
"Well, I'm not perfect, so...Anyway, as I was saying before I impolitely got cut." Max grinned at him mockingly. "There had been a bunch of 'murders' back in Europe 10 years ago. The man who went to jail clamed he wasn't the murderer, but they sacrificed him anyway, saying he was. The murders stopped for a few years, until they found another one about 5 years ago in a chapel in France. The man they suspected was the priest, and the person who had died was a sister of a Catholic Church."  
  
"The first one?" Max asked, getting up and serving a portion of lasagna to Logan and herself. 'That I can do easily...' She put the plate in front of him.  
  
"Exactly -thank you- she was the first sister to die, and it stayed that way until a month ago, when it all started again. The deaths are always made for us to think it's suicide, but it isn't. The sister had a glossy look, and now that you mentioned hypnosis earlier, I think I understand more what it's all about. The priest must be telling them something while they are under his spell, and the mark they have on their right arm looks like a religious sign. Hebrew maybe. I'll have to check it out." He said, taking a bite of his culinary miracle. 'I'm a really good Chef!' He said to himself.  
  
"Why the sisters? All they do is pray all day." Max asked Logan, while eating her lasagna and taking a bite of the salad. 'Hmmm, that is SO good!' She thought. "Logan, you're a God in the kitchen!" Max said to him, and he smiled back, happy she liked it.  
  
"Vulnerability I guess." He answered her question, watching her eat like it was the first time in ages. Max felt he was staring and raised her eyes from her plate, swallowing her bite and smiling a little, shyly.   
  
"Sorry...but that is so delicious, and since I had a fight with Original Cindy this morning, kicked Jesus' butt, had to jump on a roof, got arrested by a pervert who wanted to see me naked, had to walk about 5 miles to get to my bike afterwards, and all that while having a simple toast in my stomach, this is very much welcome." She said one thing after the other like you would count from zero to thirty without taking a breath, and she didn't see Logan's eyes wildered on her, until she stopped talking.  
  
"You WHAT?! You kicked Jesus' butt? " He repeated almost in disbelief. "It was all over the news today, the Sisters thought that it was a sign of Jesus! "  
  
"I had to do something to distract them!" She replied innocently, biting her lip. They stared at each other and burst into laughs for about 5 minutes, not being able to stop.  
  
"Max..." Said Logan, gasping for air. "That is sooo NOT correct of you to have done that! I may not be a religious man, but not going to church is one thing, kicking Jesus' butt is another."   
  
"You should have been there Logan...the Sisters were all crossing themselves, staring at the Jesus Christ lying there on the floor, horrified..." Max was laughing her ass out, not able to stop. "They looked like the Wrath of Jesus were upon them!" She laughed and then slowly stopped. "But you're right...I shouldn't laugh over it, but I didn't have any other options offered to me at that moment but to kick his ass and make him fall."  
  
"They'll get over it..." Logan said, smiling at the thought of the Sisters staring at their Jesus on the floor of the church. "You fought with Original Cindy?" He said, remembering she had said something about that. " What about? You two usually get along well."   
  
Max lost her smile, stared at him awkwardly, not wanting to tell him he was the reason, and got more serious.  
"Nothing really important. Girly stuff." And then she took a bite of lasagna. Logan knew it meant: 'Don't ask further more, you won't get an answer.'  
  
"You should have told me at the Police Station, I would have come and given you a ride to your bike." Logan said, changing the subject again.   
  
"I know...I just didn't want to disturb you." Max said, not looking at him, until she felt his stare on her. Logan was expressing the 'You know you never disturb me' face. "Anyway, I was in a bad mood", she continued, "and it was better for you not to be near me. And the walk did me some good."   
  
Logan took her plate with his, and wheeled himself to the sink, where he rinsed it and put it in the washing machine.  
  
"That invention was really made for me." Said Max to Logan, mockingly. "I'm telling you Logan, I so hate washing the dishes, that I'd do anything to have one of these in my place...but of course, I'd have to have hot water, and I don't. I have to boil everything…" This last part, she said it to herself.  
  
"Lucky me." He said back, sarcastically. "I have current hot water."  
  
Max stood up and stretched herself.   
"Are you coming at Crash tonight? Me and the Jam Pony gang will be there." 'No thanks....I gotta work.' she said to herself.  
  
"I have computer research to do...I have to find who is that man, and why he's doing this." Logan said, seeing she was disappointed.   
  
"Okay then...if you ever change your mind...you know where I'll be!" She made him a big smile and walked to the door. "Thanks for the meal Logan!" She yelled as the door closed behind her.  
  
Logan went to his computer, not realizing he was still smiling, and got in line with Sebastian. 'He surely knows something about this...' He said to himself.  
  
************  
  
Max got to her place at 8:00. She wanted to take a shower before going at Crash. Original Cindy stood up from the couch and walked over to her.  
  
"I'm sorry Cindy for this morning." Max said, opening her arms to her friend's hug.  
  
"Me too boo, I didn't want to mess with your head." I bought you poppy seed." She showed them to Max, who started to laugh at the bag full of them.  
  
"The worst thing," said Max laughing, "is that I didn't find any..."   
  
"Then I did the good thing buying some. After all, I baked those freakin' seeds without asking you first." She put the bag on the counter.  
  
"Forget about it, you can take anything you want. I don't know why I reacted that way..." Max said back looking at Original Cindy, who snorted.  
  
" No? Do you want me to tell you then? 'Cause Original Cindy knows why." She said to Max, with a straight face, her hands on her hips.  
  
"You can keep it to yourself." Said Max, walking toward the bathroom and closing the door.  
  
"That's because you know the damn answer I'll give you Max!" Yelled Original Cindy through the door.  
  
" Bla bla bla..." She heard an annoying Max say on the other side of the door.   
  
************  
  
At Crash, 22:00PM  
  
They were all sitting at the round table, each one of them drinking beer, and laughing freely over some stupid thing Sketchy just said.  
  
"What?!" He asked them, ignoring what they were laughing about, not remembering having even spoken.  
  
"My man," said Herbal, "we lave ya just tha way you are!" And Original Cindy, Max and him burst again.  
  
"As long as you all love me..." Sketchy said, drinking his forth pitcher of beer, happy.  
  
"Do you wanna play pool with your boo?" Cindy asked Max.  
  
"Sure, we'll let the men lurking at the girls alone...." She said to Herbal and Sketchy.  
  
"I have my woman at home Max." Answered Herbal. "I don't need to look."  
  
"Yeah right...Because you're on a diet, you can't look at the menu?...Pleeaaase!" She took her glass of beer and followed Original Cindy.  
  
She was at her second win when she decided to go buy them another pitcher of beer. When Max got to the table, Sketchy and Herbal were gone. 'Where the hell are they?' Max asked herself, putting the pitcher of beer on the table. 'They must not be far away, all their personal stuff are here...What's this?' Max saw a brown bag in Herbal pockets, she took it and looked inside. 'What? He had chocolate chip cookies all this time and he didn't offer us any? And I was there sipping my beer and getting hungry...hmmm...they look good!' She took one and smelled it. 'I wonder if those are the cookies he's always talking about? Nah…' She decided not to eat it anyway and put the bag back where it first was, but she couldn't stop staring at the bag, curious. 'One won't make a difference, right?' She said to herself, grabbing the bag and taking one cookie. She took a bite. 'Hmmm...Damn, those are good!' She swallowed it and took another bite, and then another, until the cookie was all eaten.   
  
"And then, she gets caught with the hand in the bag!" She heard Herbal say behind her, she turned around, blushing slightly.  
  
"Couldn't help myself...I was hungry!" She said back, ashamed.  
  
"You shouldn't have done it Max." Said Sketchy, while Herbal was trying not to laugh. "Those are Happy Cookies."  
  
"What?" Max said. 'Oh no…'  
  
"Yes Max," said Herbal back, "Those are the special cookies I was talking about the other day."   
  
"Oh..." She said looking inside the bag like a kid who just learned he had made a mistake. "I thought they tasted weird for chocolate, so I guess that's the reason why. But one won't do anything, right?" She said to both of them.   
  
Original Cindy came back, sick of waiting for Max.  
"What's going on here? I've been waiting for that pitcher of beer for a decade!"  
  
"Max ate Herbal's cookie." Sketchy said, letting himself fall in the chair behind him, hoping there would be one since his legs couldn't stand him anymore. 'I need another pitcher of beer to boost me up!' He thought.  
  
"Is it true boo?" Cindy asked Max, who looked guilty as hell, and smiled wickedly. "Then you'll be in a joyful state later on!" She said to her boo, laughing.  
  
"Come on...not because of one?! I'm stronger than that!" She sat down on the chair, while the men decided to go play pool, it was 'their turn', as they have said.   
A few minutes later, Max couldn't stay in place, she wanted to move.   
  
"Ya aiight boo?" Original Cindy said, looking at her watch and seeing it has been half an hour that Max had eaten the cookie. 'It's making its effect.' She thought to herself.   
  
"I'm gonna dance." Said Max, standing up and walking towards the dance floor, where only 10 people or so were dancing.   
  
"What?! You Dance? I've never seen her dance in my whole life!" She was now talking to herself, looking at Max who had just found the right spot on the boarder of the dance floor, and who started to dance like a crazy animal. Original Cindy started to laugh, and took a sip of beer.   
About 15 minutes later, Logan came in, and spotted Original Cindy alone at a table. She saw him coming towards her.  
  
"Well, well, well. If it isn't Mr. Richy who's in front of me, and who decided to get out of his Working Tower, please God, strike me to death!" She said to him, raising her eyes to the roof.  
  
"Hi Cindy, where's Max? " He asked her smiling, ignoring on purpose her comments.  
  
"She's dancing." She replied back, discouraged by her boo's behavior, and showing to Logan with her hand where Max was...and what she was doing.  
  
Logan followed Original Cindy's gesture until his eyes got stuck on Max, who seemed to be really enjoying herself, dancing and twisting herself like a cat in heat. 'Sweet Jesus!' Logan thought. Even if he would have wanted to not fix his gaze on her for a long time, he couldn't help himself but stare at the sensual body of Max who was moving at the rhythm of the music.  
Logan stared at Max for a long time without speaking, thinking she had never been more beautiful than this moment. He would have given everything he possessed right now to be able to stand up and join her, just to take her in his arms and to be able to hold her close to him, but his eyes moved to his legs, and the light that was in his eyes before disappeared under the depth of his heart's desire.  
He did not notice that Original Cindy was staring at him, and not at her boo, being aware of what was going on in his head when she saw him looking at his legs. But for once in her life, Original Cindy stayed quiet, she didn't tease him, she didn't make any comment on how he cares about Max, she didn't talk about his moneybag or his wheelchair. She just stayed silent. But she thought to herself: 'Dancing is the vertical expression of a horizontal desire. Now I dare you to tell ME you don't care about her!'   
  
Logan turned his hear and looked at Original Cindy.  
"What's with Max? She's usually not like that." He asked out of concern.  
  
"She ate Herbal's cookie." She answered, smiling at Max who was still on the dance floor.  
  
"What are you talking about?" Logan replied back, not having a clue what she was talking about. "Herbal's cookie?" He stared at Max.  
  
"Yeah...they're special cookies, you know, happy cookies?" She stared at Logan, trying to make him understand the cookie stuff, and it took him a moment, but he finally got it.  
  
"Oh...those cookies..." He replied, half smiling. "Why did she eat them?"  
  
"She didn't know I suppose, and maybe the girl was hungry!" Original Cindy answered back. "If you want to talk to her, you should go get her, or she'll stay there until tomorrow morning."  
  
"Yeah...I'll do that." He said back, wheeling himself near Max, who was just on the boarder of the dance floor.  
  
"Max!" He yelled at her, but she didn't move an inch. "MAX!" Now, she opened her eyes and stared at Logan, smiling. She could see his lips moving, but didn't understand a word since the music box was next to her, and the sound was too loud even for her super hearing faculties. She bent forward and stopped her mouth a centimeter away from his ear.  
  
"I didn't understand a word Logan." She took her hair and put it under her ear, so she could hear him talk. "Now, speak to me." 'God, he smells delightful, freshly out of the shower.' Max thought to herself, waiting for him to speak.   
  
Logan just couldn't speak, he felt his throat tightening, searching for air, his brain trying to focus on other things than Max's hair in his nose, her breath tickling his skin near his ear while she spoke, and the fact that his mouth was just inches away from her neck. 'So help me God!' He thought, happy for the first time he was in a wheelchair or his legs would have just abandoned him to the floor if he had been standing. 'What is she doing?…' He just felt like she was smelling his sent in his neck, which gave him butterflies in the stomach, and a warm feeling all over his body. 'What are you going?' He wanted to ask her, but kept his mouth shut, as usual when it was about that topic. After having waited for some time, Max faced Logan, smiling devilishly, her lips only a few inches away from his, staring at him without blinking. 'Her eyes look weird.' Logan thought.  
  
"Forget it Max, I found some information about the Gray Suit man, but you're not really ...hmm...in a state to focus your mind right now." He said to her, thinking he was about to get yelled at by her, telling him she was 'fine!'.   
  
She stood back, tilted her head a little on the side, and put a hand on her hip. And she smiled at him, to his astonishment.   
"Yeah...I'm feeling weird." And she started to giggle. "It's taking me forever to think." And to that she straightens up her body. "Maybe I should go sit down a little with the guys. Coming?" She asked him, not waiting about his answer at all, she went back to the table where they were all sitting.   
  
"I'm telling you Sketchy you should ask Max, she'll take care of it so fast, you wont have the time to blink!" Original Cindy said to him.   
  
"What's goin' on?" Asked Max before sitting on a chair. "Make some room for Logan please." She said to them, who all moved their chair at the same moment, which made her laugh her ass out. "Damn, we should do group work more often!"   
  
  
Logan looked at Max, laughed silently, but she noticed it anyway. She turned her head toward him.  
  
"Are you laughing at me Logan?" She asked him, not really smiling anymore.  
  
"I can't get out of this one easily, can I?" He asked back, trying to stay serious. But Max drop her serious face and laughed.  
  
"That's it. Laugh while it's still time, because tomorrow I'll kick your ass over it." She said to Logan, winking at him, knowing perfectly she would have laughed her ass out if it has been him instead of her who would have eaten the cookie. 'But then again, he wouldn't have eaten it.' She thought.   
  
"Girl, you're whacked up!" Cindy said to Max, who was still laughing.  
  
"I'm fine...just a little dizzy." She stared at them. "What's the delio?" 'Wouah!…I feel strange.'  
  
"The guy there?", said Sketchy pointing the man, "He said that if we were going to win at the pool game, he was going to give us $50, and if it was him, Herbal and me would have to give him $50. But we won, and he told us to get out of his face without giving us the money." Max stared fixedly at him, her face looked like she was trying to understand a mathematic problem that takes 4 pages to solve, and after a long time, too long for her to usually assimilate something, she spoke.  
  
"Ah...no problem." She stood up and went to the guy.   
  
Logan looked at Original Cindy, frowning, like he didn't understood what was going on.  
  
"Just watch, it works every time!" She said back affirmatively to him.  
  
They all turned their heads and watched, as Max walked over to the guy, who looked like a scum. The scum spotted her long before she got near him, because of the way she had her eyes stuck on him, not to mention the special way in which she was moving herself. Everyone in the bar stared at her. She then placed herself near the guy, so near him there was absolutely no place for air between them, and whispered something in his ear. The guy nodded after a few minutes, and then gave her the money. Max smiled, took it and turned her back on him. The others could see the guy had expected more from her. He just smiled and got back to whatever he was doing.   
Max got back to the table where they were all staring at her, and gave the $50 to Sketchy.  
  
"What did you say to him?" Sketchy asked, amazed by what he had just seen.  
  
"She won't tell you, she never told me." Original Cindy said back. Max smiled.  
  
"If I reveal all my tricks, what fun will it be? Plus, nobody would need me to do them anymore." She turned towards Logan and made him a wink, which made him smile.  
  
"And every fucking time, the guys smiles when she turns her back on them! Each one of them! He doesn't want to kick her ass or want to pick a fight like the male ego would normally react, he just smiles! Original Cindy doesn't know how you do it boo, but damn! It's freakin' working all the time!" She laughed at this and took a sip of beer.   
  
"It's magic!" Herbal said. "God gave you a gift Max. The gift of seduction."  
  
"God never gave me a freakin' thing Herbal." Max snapped back. "Drop the Bible speech. Don't want to hear it."   
  
"Yeah…" Sketchy said. "If we wanted to hear God stuff, we would be at the church." He took another sip of beer.   
  
"I'm thirsty as hell!" Max said, having trouble standing up, wanting to go look for another pitcher of beer. "I'm gonna buy another one." She took the empty one and turned around to head towards the bar, but she didn't seem to remember that Logan was sitting right next to her, at her right side, and she hit him with the pitcher of beer on the forehead, breaking it, the pitcher of course, sending the wheelchair on his back, with him on it, unconscious. She stared at him dumbfounded, not moving a muscle, still having the broken pitcher in her hand. "Oh no…" She said.  
  
Original Cindy was already on her two feet, picking up the wheelchair and getting it into the position it was before the fall. Logan was still sleeping.   
  
"Damn boo! Why didn't you just break his skull if you wanted him dead. Logan?…Logan!…Wake up Sugar!" She was almost yelling at him. "Damn!"   
  
"Is he alright?" Asked Sketchy and Herbal.  
  
"I don't know." Original Cindy turned towards Max who hasn't moved an inch. "Max! Don't stay there like a freakin' vegetable! Go call Bling or something!" She shouted at her, to get her out of her stupor.  
Max got out of where she was, not thinking straight since the Herbal Cookie was coursing all throughout her blood stream.   
  
"Hmm…yeah…" She went to the phone. 'Damn! I don't remember the numbers.' She put her finger in front of the phone, waiting for a lightening of knowledge, but nothing came. She got back to Original Cindy. "I don't remember his phone number." Max said helplessly. Original Cindy sighed from discouragement, and took a deep breath.   
  
"Come on guys! Help me here, we're going to get him into his car and drive him home, because my boo here isn't able to resist a freakin' cookie!" The two guys stood up, and Sketchy walked into the table, not seeing it. "One unconscious is enough okay Sketchy, watch where you're walking!" Original Cindy warned him ready to kick his butt if he fell on the floor for having drank too much beer. She stared at Max, who looked like a lost puppy, not really realizing what was going on. "So help me God!' Original Cindy said for the first time in her life, rolling her eyes to the ceiling.  
  
  
To be continued…  
  
Anna  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  



	3. Who Needs Sleep?

Y BlacK MagiC Y  
  
Chapter three: Who Needs Sleep?  
  
Original Cindy arrived at Logan's apartment around midnight with the gang. Max had almost passed out in the car because of the cookie, and Logan hadn't woken up. Sketchy was dead drunk, and Herbal seemed to be alright. 'Herbal is eating those cookies almost every day and he doesn't look high!? I guess you get use to that bitch!' Original Cindy thought while driving. 'And Sketchy drinks way too much!'  
Herbal helped her getting Logan out of the car when they arrived at Foggle Towers. Making her way to the front entrance, she pushed the intercom button to Logan's Penthouse.  
  
"Hello." Said a male voice that was supposedly Bling.  
  
"Hiya! Bling. Look, it's Original Cindy here with a bunch of wackos. My home girl knocked Logan unconscious after eating Herbal's cookie, and now she's almost unconscious herself. I can't get upstairs with all the 4 clowns that are around me. Please help me, Original Cindy is starting to dream of assassination!" She said in a desperate-hysterical voice.   
  
"What? Max...Logan…Unconscious?! …Wait a second, I'm coming down." And she heard the click that meant he had shut down the connection between them. She looked at Logan, he was breathing normally and he had a regular pulse, but that's all she knew that was telling her that he was still alive and alright, because he was still unconscious and Original Cindy knew that when you were unconscious for too long, it wasn't a good sign.   
Turning her gaze to Max, Original Cindy thought 'The girl has problems standing up!' Herbal had to put an arm behind Max's shoulder to help her stand on her two feet.  
  
It took Bling about one minute to arrive. When he acknowledged the spectacle before him, he froze.   
  
"What the hell happened?" Logan was bleeding from the left side of his forehead, and Max looked like she was about to puke, having a smile on her face. "We gotta go upstairs." Bling looked at the 2 guys; he didn't know them and it was probably safe if Max knew them, but he couldn't let them go into Logan's place. Eyes Only had to be protected. "Is there someone who can drive without being drunk or something?" He asked as if he was talking to both of them, but he was staring at Herbal since the other one seemed pretty drunk.   
  
"Sure my brother. I'm fine." Herbal said, taking the car keys that Bling was giving him. Bling was going to go get Logan's car later. Maybe tomorrow.  
  
Herbal took Sketchy with him and they left.   
  
"Can you make sure she doesn't fall while we go up?" Bling asked Original Cindy, while he took a quick look at Logan to see if he was all right. Logan started to moan. "Well, at least we know he's alive." He said, smiling at Cindy.  
  
"Those two are impossible…and Original Cindy is watching her boo, don't worry. Now, lets go upstairs."  
  
They got into the elevator and headed up to the penthouse. Once there, they entered the apartment with Bling pushing Logan's wheelchair, while Original Cindy held on to Max to make sure she didn't gracefully stumble down to the floor.  
  
"Where do I put her?" Original Cindy asked Bling.  
  
"We both should take them to Logan's bedroom. It's not right for me to go from one room to the other all night long." He said, discouraged.  
  
"Well, those two should have gotten there by themselves long ago." She said, and Bling turned his face towards Original Cindy and smiled.  
  
"I'm glad to see I'm not the only one thinking that."   
  
Bling put Logan on the right side of the bed, while Cindy tried making Max to sit down on the other side.  
  
"Come on Sugar…take a nap, it will do you some good." She talked to Max as if she was 5 years old. 'And me too.'  
  
"I'm not feeling well…" Max replied, wanting to stand up.   
  
"No, no, no…you stay on the bed boo. No arguing." Max listened to her home girl and sat on the bed. "Not just sitting boo, Original Cindy here wants to see all Max's body parts on that bed into a sleep position. Aiight?!"  
  
"I'm thirsty." Max said, more to herself than to her friend while lying down on the bed next to Logan. "Oh! I'm really thirsty."   
  
"Okay boo, I'll bring you a glass of water if you promise me to stay put?" 'I never thought I'd play Mom to Max!' She thought.  
  
"I promise." Max said, slightly laughing.  
  
"It's okay Original Cindy, I'll clean up Logan's wound and I'll check up on Max." Original Cindy sighed in despair and went to the kitchen to pick the glass of water.  
  
Bling took a look at Logan. He took some alcohol to clean the wound on his forehead, and put a bandage on it. He was almost done when Logan began to moan, without opening his eyes, as if he was dreaming.  
  
"Logan? Logan wake up!" He said firmly. "Logan! WAKE UP!" 'Damn!…He's not waking up as much as I would want him to…'   
  
"What's the matter Bling? He's still sleeping?" Max asked, rolling herself on her left side, nearer Logan, trying to look focused but not doing a great job at it.  
  
"Drop it Max, you're whacked up." Bling said, trying not to laugh at Max, who was very onto chemical substances.  
  
"Do you want him to wake up or not?" She said to Bling, annoyed.  
  
"Of course." Bling said.   
  
"Then I'll wake him up." She said, approaching her lips from Logan's ear. "Logan…wake up." She whispered into his ear. "Hey Sugar…wake up!" It wasn't really working.  
  
"You're talking to slow honey." Bling said to Max. 'Does she really think he'll wake up this way? God help me not to laugh at what I'm seeing right now!'  
  
"And shouting into his ear to make him deaf will? It didn't earlier…Now let me handle this." She talked like she was a wake-up expert.  
  
"Be my guest." He replied.   
  
Max put her mouth nearer to Logan's ear and whispered : "Logan it's Max, wake up…oh god you smell good…Logan, open those blue eyes of yours. Open your eyes dammit!" She said a little louder, but not much. Bling thought it was very funny to see a drugged Max trying to wake up Logan in such a matter that usually, wouldn't have taken a lot of time for him to do so, since Max was whispering into his ear, telling him he smelled good.   
  
"It's not working Max." Bling said, forcing himself to look serious. "Now let me do it."  
  
"Shut up Bling, I'll wake him up!" She looked at him as if she was going to kick his butt. "It's the least I can do after breaking his skull!" She returned to Logan. "Logan…if you wake up right at this minute, I promise you it will be a night you will never forget…" She said to him, in a very implying sensual voice.   
It didn't take long, and the guy opened his eyes, but Logan did not remember what had been said to him, he just knew he had to open his eyes, and he did.   
  
Bling smiled and Max fell asleep almost the exact same time. 'I'd tell them what I just saw, but they wouldn't believe me!'  
  
"Bling?" Logan said after opening his eyes. He did not see Max at his right side, because he was looking at Bling. "What am I doing here?" He then saw Original Cindy enter the room with a glass of water.   
  
"Hey boo, glad to see you're finally awake…not like missy at your side." She said looking disapprovingly at Max.   
Logan turned his head, and saw Max at his side, sleeping.  
  
"What's going on? Is she alright?" He asked them.  
  
"The girl snapped you unconscious and you're still wondering about her?" Original Cindy said. "Don't you remember Sugar? We were at the bar and Max had eaten one of Herbal's cookies? She was, and still is, so dizzy that she didn't see you with that pitcher of beer, and broke it on your forehead." Logan looked at them, and then remembered.  
  
"Oh yeah…" He turned towards Max, who was out of this world.   
  
"You'll be fine man." Said Bling. "Now try to get some sleep and I'll come checking on both of you later." Original Cindy followed him, letting the glass of water on the night table.  
  
********  
  
Original Cindy and Bling went into the kitchen trying not to burst into laughs in front of Logan and Max.   
  
"Oh god…I thought I wouldn't be able to hold it much longer!" Bling said, gasping for air. "I can't believe this has happened!"   
  
"No doubt!" Replied Cindy, smiling. "I just hope she'll be fine."   
  
"Yeah, she will be. Do you want a beer or something?" Asked Bling. "It's not like we're going to get much sleep anyway."  
  
"Aiight, now you're talking!" Original Cindy said to Bling, smiling.  
  
********  
  
Logan stared at a sleeping Max and touched his forehead, which was killing him with pain. 'Boy, she didn't miss me.' He thought, touching his swelling bump. Max suddenly opened her eyes and sat up straight in the bed.  
  
"Max?" Logan asked concerned by her behavior.  
  
"I'm not feeling good…I'm thirsty." She said in a weak voice. Logan gave her the glass of water and she took it, drinking it all. She gave him back the glass, staring at his forehead, making a face that meant 'Oh no…I really did this? I thought it was a dream…' and then she returned to her previous position on the bed, lying on her back, and closing her eyes. "Oh Logan…I'm so sorry." Max just had the time to finish her sentence when she started to shake. Vividly.  
  
"Max?! Max are you seizing?" Asked Logan, not sure she was since the shaking was different than usual.  
  
"I don't think it's because of the Tryptophan this time…" She said in a jerky voice.  
  
Having heard Logan say seizing, Bling opened the door and entered the room to make sure everything was okay. He looked at Max, whose legs and arms were jumping up and down.   
  
"You think it's because of the lack of serotonine?" He asked Logan, who was now almost over Max's body, standing on one elbow and trying to make it stop, without any success of course. This gesture was one he used to make whenever Max had a seizure. It was only some kind of reflex he had. Like he could stop it if he stabilized the muscles enough.   
  
"She said no to me when I asked her." Logan answered Bling.  
  
"It must be the Herbal's cookie then." Bling said back. "The substance in there makes your nerves and muscles relax…and my guess is that Max isn't used to relaxing. Her muscles must always be contracted, waiting for something to jump in her face…I can't blame her, I probably would be the same way if I used to live at Manticore. Just try to make her relax, would you?" He asked Logan, who nodded in agreement.  
  
"Hey?!…Don't talk as if I wasn't even here!" Max said, almost angry. "I can take care of myself!" She said. 'I'm not a freakin' child!'  
  
"No you can't boo." Said Original Cindy, who had just entered the room. "And now you'll try to get some sleep before you snap someone else unconscious!" Original Cindy couldn't help herself from reminding her girl that it was she, who had knocked him out of it.  
  
"Thanks for refreshing my memory boo…Are you two plotting against me today?" She asked, looking at Logan while she tried to control the trembling of her body. She was asking that because she remembered that he also refreshed her memory this morning at the police station. "What is today? The day when we tell Max all her flaws and mistakes?" She said, sarcastically. "What is it? Barbie and Ken against the rejected one? What was her name…Skippy?"  
  
"No offence Logan…but Max, I'm not into the male gender if you'd forgotten. Plus, I don't think I'm his type…" She said staring at Max with an eyebrow up, before walking out of the room.   
Max sent her electrifying shots with her eyes, but only Logan saw it, which made him smile. She tried to get the control her body, but it only made matters worst. The trembling was getting frantic.  
  
"Max…calm yourself. There's no one here who'll hurt you. Bling is outside the door with Original Cindy, and I'm right here." Logan said softly to Max, trying to make her relax.   
  
"I'm not used to relaxing Logan." Max closed her eyes and took a deep breath, but the seizing wasn't fading. "I don't want to relax…I'll go to sleep and then I'll have nightmares."   
  
"I know. But the drugs that are in the cookie you ate will be in your system for a few more hours. So if you don't calm yourself and sleep, your muscles will get over stretched and tomorrow morning, they will hurt. Plus, if you don't relax, you'll be exhausted for having spend so much energy on the trembling because believe me, those muscles needs energy to jump like that! And I'm not talking about the headache you'll also have." Logan was trying to reason her, but it didn't seem to work. Max turned herself on her right side.  
  
"You won't make me stop just by turning your back on me!" Logan said, in disbelief.  
  
"Drop it Logan." Max said, but I guess he was telling the truth; he wasn't going to back off. She felt his body pressing on her back like a spoon on another spoon, and his arm was making its way under her left one, his hand reaching her right shoulder and resting there. He pushed himself closer to her, putting his head on hers, letting it rest on her left side. "What are you doing?" She said, feeling the shaking going stronger.  
  
"Now you listen to me Max." Said Logan, in a tone that let no place for comments even if he had softly spoken. "You'll close your eyes and try to sleep. Forget the nightmares, and if you do have them, I'm right here. Now, you try to relax yourself, go ahead…close your eyes and don't think about your muscles. Just release the tension from your mind and body." He had felt her body tense up when he got closer to her, but it was the only way he could think of that was going to make her feel safe, secure, and then relaxed. Or maybe it was more for him? Both ways, it was pure good intentions.   
He was himself surprised of his behavior, but tomorrow was going to be just fine for soul-searching, today wasn't the time.   
  
'Try to relax my ass!' Thought Max. 'You're against my body holding on to me like I'd fall of the bed if not, and you want me to relax?!' Her heart was racing like hell, and her mind was going wild, but she tried to calm herself anyway. 'Now isn't the time to explore emotions…tomorrow will be just fine.' Max could feel Logan's warmth overcome her body, and it made her feel good; he was softly talking to her, telling her to breathe deeply, slowly, and to clear her mind from anything unpleasant. He started to paint some island place, where nobody would know her, where no choppers or goons were looking for her, and where she would be able to relax on the beach, looking at the blue sky, at the fishes swimming into the sea, and all she would have to do all day was relax.   
Max wouldn't be able to tell you if it was the relaxation therapy or the fact that Logan was holding her so tight that made her calm down, but it worked.  
  
Logan started to feel her body loose the muscle' contractions, and she began to breathe deeply, slowly, almost reaching the moment where you fall into sleep. He smiled to himself, still holding on to Max, gently resting his head on the pillow behind Max's head, and closed his eyes, smelling her hair as he was breathing in them. 'God it feels good to hold her like this.' He thought. He let the sweet sensation come within himself, and heard Max breathe at a normal rate. 'She must be sleeping now.'   
After a few moments, he heard her say something. He got out of his half-sleep state, and put his head near her face from behind, wanting to see if she was awake. But no, her eyes were closed.   
  
"Eva?…" Logan heard her say in a little voice. 'Damn!…she must be dreaming about Eva.' Logan knew that Max loved Eva, but he also knew that she got killed and he didn't want Max to reach that sequence in her dream where it will change into a nightmare. 'She said she would have nightmares. Damn! She was right!'  
  
"Max?…" He whispered into her ear, not to wake her up, but just to stir her out of the dream enough to jump her mind on something else.  
  
"What?…" She answered, still sleeping. The answer was more of a reflex you'd do when someone talks to you in your sleep, but you wont remember it when you'll wake up.   
  
"It's okay, he replied softly, just go back to sleep." She cuddled herself closer to Logan after saying something that sounded like "Hmmm" , and sighed. 'Help me Whatever or Whoever you are out there, or I'll go nuts! It feels so good to be in each other's arms…I wonder if I'll ever be able to let her go. Oh my god…did you ever smell her hair? Her skin?' When he had looked at her face earlier to see if she was sleeping, they were cheek to cheek, his chin in her neck's hollow, which gave him ideas.   
But now, and without noticing it, he was smelling her neck, and then he gave her a sweet kiss just under her earlobe where the sensitive skin is. 'Damn!' Logan thought. He saw Max smile, and hoped to die if she had been awake. 'Dammit! Logan! You idiot!' He put his head on the pillow, wishing to death that she was smiling because of a dream.   
  
Max had been dreaming of Manticore when Logan sort of awakened her. She didn't know she had said Eva's name out loud, but she was very glad she got out of this dream, which was about to get ugly. She felt his face coming nearer to hers, and she could smell him, this sweet Logan's personal sent that she liked so much. 'God, I can feel him all around me. I must be dreaming.' She thought. She was on the verge of falling into deep sleep again when she felt the sweetest touch she had ever felt in her life. She smiled.   
  
********  
  
It was about 5:00am when Bling woke up from the couch in front of the one where Original Cindy was sleeping. They had talked until 3:00 and then fallen asleep. 'I better go check the love birds.' He stood up and slowly opened the door. Both Logan and Max were still sleeping, all cuddled into each other's. He smiled and closed the door. 'They're just fine, and I have some hours left to sleep. Good.' He returned to his couch and slept.  
  
********  
  
About 3 hours after Bling had walked into the room, Max woke up. She was at first disoriented, but then her mind started to focus and she remembered what happened the night before. 'My head is killing me…' She turned her head and saw that Logan was still sleeping. He was on his back, his face towards hers, looking peaceful. 'I can't believe I snapped you unconscious.' Max thought. 'Those cookies are strong! How can Herbal look as if he wasn't even high? I'm not ever touching that stuff again! Oh…Logan…What a mess! Why do you care so much? I don't even care about myself, but for whatever reason, you seem to care about me.' Max stared at Logan, for a brief moment, watching him sleep. Finally, getting up, she walked into the living room where she saw Original Cindy wakening up. Grabbing her friend by the wrist, she started to walk - not to say run- dragging Original Cindy along and saying: "Lets get the hell out of here!"  
  
********************************  
Sorry for the delay, and Please…give me reviews!  
Anna   
  



	4. Land Of Denial

Y BlacK MagiC Y  
  
Chapter four: Land Of Denial  
  
Max stormed out of Logan's place with Original Cindy behind her running, and trying to catch up with Max's speed.  
  
"Do you have fire on you're ass? Stop walking so fast boo! I'll end up having a heart attack!" she said to Max, running out of breath. "Would you mind explaining to Original Cindy what just happened in there?"  
  
"Nothing. Forget it okay? Now hurry up or we'll be late for work." Max said.  
  
"We're always late for work Max! What difference does it mean that we will be late another day? Normal won't fire us! He never does." she said behind Max, who opened the door of their apartment and got in, running to her bedroom, changing herself and in a flash, and getting out, ready to go to Jam Pony.   
  
Original Cindy looked at her like she was an alien.   
"Houston, we've got a problem." She said out loud, rolling her eyes up to the roof, and putting her hands on her hips.  
  
"What?!" said Max, taking a breath and sitting at the table, before pouring herself a cup of coffee. 'You know what.' she told herself.  
  
"Girl, we're not working 'til noon!" Original Cindy looked at Max up front, frowned, and sat down on a chair. "What's going on in that head of yours?" she asked her boo.  
  
Max made a sick face, and sat down on the couch, defeated, and tired of making excuses.  
"Nothing and everything is going on in this head of mine." Max said, closing her eyes and rubbing her temples with her fingers to ease the headache she was having. 'Logan told me I wouldn't have a headache if I calmed down, but I'm still having one. Go figure.'  
  
"Your head's killing you boo?" Original Cindy's question was a trick, and Max knew it, so she used it to her advantage.  
  
"Yeah…I know I calmed down yesterday, with the trembling and everything, but I'm having one anyway."  
  
"Ahan…so, Logan was able to make you relax and to make you calm down enough for the shaking to fade…so…was it good?" Original Cindy asked, raising both eyebrows to Max.  
  
Max stared at her home girl wickedly, knowing that she probably woke up during the night to check up on them, and had found her and Logan all cuddled up together.  
"You want to know something, you ask directly. I'm not into the *turning around the subject thing* with you. Ask&Answer game, remember?"   
  
"Aiight. Did you feel bad for having snapped him unconscious?" Original Cindy asked. 'She wants to play it, fine by me!'  
  
"Of course I did!" 'What kind of a question is this?!'  
  
"What did you feel? Exactly?"  
  
"I was ashamed, and I felt pain. I guess. For having cost him some…" Max tried to figure what she felt inside when it happened, but all was confused. "I don't really know."  
  
"Did you like the feeling of Logan's body against you?" 'She wants me to go right to the point, then I'll do it!'  
  
Max took a pause and stared at Original Cindy's evil glance.  
"Yes." Max said, smiling at her friend. 'Oh god yes…'  
  
"How was it?" She asked, crossing her arms. 'Original Cindy wants details!'  
  
"Good..." Max said in a tone that was like: You know, it was okay. 'Fabulous!' She thought to herself.  
  
"What did you think?" 'I'm gonna make her say it!'  
  
"That he smelled good." Max said, among other things she thought. 'So good…'  
  
"And…?" Original Cindy replied, almost insulted by Max's answer. 'Come on! Be more explicit!'  
  
"That I would have just eat him up!" Max smiled to Cindy. Admitting things to her wasn't really the hardest part, because Max knew that her boo already knew all of this deep inside. 'All of him.'  
  
"Did you think of running away at that time?" 'Ooouu, she's really telling the truth!'  
  
"No." Max plainly answered. 'And that's bizarre coming from me.'  
  
"So why did you do it this morning?" She asked Max softly.  
  
Max took the time to think about this one.  
"I felt weird."  
  
"How weird?" Original Cindy asked, frowning her eyebrows. 'Weird?…What kind of a word is that?!'  
  
"Just weird. Bizarre." Max answered, her eyes staring into an empty space.  
  
"Weird how?" 'He he he…'  
  
"It's the same question!" Max yelled into her home girl's ears.  
  
"Answer it!" Original Cindy shouted, like she was talking to a prisoner, doing the interrogation.  
  
"Weird is weird, okay? How the hell should I know how weird is when it's the first f*cking time I feel this way? It was just weird." Max said, starting to be pissed by the questions, mainly because she was having trouble answering them. But at the same time, she was really tired of always running away from her feelings, so it was a good thing. First, admitting it to her boo, and then to her, and then to Logan…oh God! "I was all like, thinking of how sweet he is, and how he cares so much about me, and all I wanted was to hug him until he stopped breathing because I wanted to be so close to him, and then I was staring at him sleeping, and all that weird feeling overcame me, and then, all I wanted was to put my lips over his and kiss him and just rip his clothes off, and I'm not even in heat!" she shouted outraged by her own behavior to Original Cindy, who smiled back at Max, satisfied with her home girl's answer.  
  
"You really like him Max. And he loves you. I know he does boo, you should have seen him last night when you were dancing."  
  
"I can't believe I was dancing." Max said, and then realized what Cindy just said. "What did you just say?" She asked, her eyes wide open.  
  
"Yeah, dancing, I almost got an stroke myself…but never mind that. You were dancing and he just looked at you during 15 minutes without keeping his eyes off of you Max. He's crazy about you. He's madly in love with you boo." She said to her, softly, trying to make it sink in. 'Maybe if Original Cindy keeps saying it, she'll end up believing me!'  
  
"Come on! I'm a genetically enhanced killing machine for him. He repeated it to me many times. I know he cares, but love? No, he can't love me Cindy. I'm not lovable, I'm despicable as a human being. I've seen the disgust in his eyes last week. He knows I did awful things, and he's so damn noble, he won't let himself fall for a prototype like me. He doesn't love me!" Max said denying everything, and almost angry, but more at herself than at her home girl. "And I don't need him either! I was fine before him, and I'll continue to be fine. I like him, a lot, but maybe it's only because he's the first male person to get close to me. To really know who I am. And now, to think I'm in love with the guy? No, no, no, no…it's just phony sentimentality. Nothing more." Max said to her friend, but in fact, she was trying to convince herself it really was what was going on.  
  
"Max…you just said it." Original Cindy was smiling.  
  
"I didn't say anything." Max was suddenly panicked. 'What did I say? What did I say?!' She thought for a few seconds. 'Damn! I said I was in love with him…'  
  
"Yes you did. Original Cindy's a lot of things, but she's not deaf." She smiled at Max.  
  
"It's not me talking, I'm still under chemical influences…it must be the Herbal Cookie again…I'm delusional." Max said, standing up and going into her room, denying it all.  
  
Original Cindy stared at her, wondering if she should laugh or cry. 'Damn that bitch is stubborn!' She sat on the couch. 'Is loving that scary…?'  
  
********  
  
Logan woke up in his bed, alone. He stared at the empty side of the mattress, where Max had been not long ago -it was still warm- and smiled. He knew she wasn't going to be there when waked up. He had hoped she was going to be, but he knew her too well. He sat on the bed, waited a few seconds before sitting himself in the wheelchair, and went to the kitchen.  
  
"Good morning Casanova!" Bling said to Logan, wearing a too large smile for Logan's silence.  
  
"Good morning Bling. To what do I owe the Casanova name?" he asked him with a straight face.  
  
"You mean that you don't remember? Anything…?" Bling replied in a tone that implied a lot.   
  
Logan's chest squeezed, suddenly afraid of the possibilities that were offered to him.  
"What's going on?" Logan asked, unsure if he would like the answer or not.  
  
"Max isn't with you this morning Logan?" Bling's question was too mischievous for him not to acknowledge it.  
  
"No…She probably woke up early and decided to go home." He said logically, like there was nothing unusual about this.  
  
"I bet! With what she said to you last night, I'd hide in the wardrobe for a few days myself!" Bling was enjoying his mental torture this morning.  
  
Logan smiled at Bling, crossed his arms, took a deep breath and stared at him.  
"I know you're dying to tell me Bling, so why wait. Spill it out!"  
  
"Well…If you INSIST…" Bling began to say, very happy to do so, since him and Original Cindy made a pact to finally make those two open their eyes to each others…not to say hearts. "Well…as I said…"   
  
"Will you SPILL IT for Christ's sake!" Logan shouted at him when he saw that his friend was taking way too much of his time to tell him. 'What happened? What did I do? What did she do?'  
  
"Okay, okay…relax man. Maybe I should ask Max to say to you those beautiful words she whispered into your ear last night again." Bling saw he had caught Logan's attention. "But then again…I don't think it would make you RELAX…quite the contrary!" Bling was enjoying this a lot. A lot. And I repeat it for emphasis: a lot.   
  
"What…?" Began to ask a paling Logan. 'So this was before I woke up…'  
  
"Max was quite over you last night. She was trying to wake you up. Well, not just trying, she really succeeded, but with words you probably wished to hear since the first day you've met her." Bling replied, softly smiling at his buddy. "I know she was whacked up, but in a way, she meant it." Bling paused to let Logan absorb what he had just said. He could see that he wanted to know the exact words Max said to him. "I won't tell you what she said, because frankly, I don't know if she remembers saying them, and I like the girl. Don't want her to be embarrassed about it, but I can tell you that she thinks you smell good. Very good." he said to Logan, before laughing and turning away, heading out to the living room, leaving a catatonic Logan staring at an empty wall. Astonished.  
  
********  
  
Eileen Hattaway isn't a woman that dissociate herself from other people. She isn't really a beautiful girl, but if you look closer, you could see she has charms. Her hair is a dark red, and her eyes are green, but there is something in the way she is, in the way she acts, that made other people look away, almost afraid of staring at her.   
  
She was going to be 25 in a week, and it was then that she would give herself to God for the rest of her life. Eileen had been 6 years old when her parents died in a car accident, and she had lived most part of her life moving from one foster home to another. Some people thought she was autistic, but she wasn't. It was only that she was feeling too much. She could feel the emotions going through another person's body, and it was sometimes too much to bare, especially since she was only a child, and didn't understand where most of the suffering in the world came from.  
  
When her mommy and daddy died, she was in the back seat, forced to watch them suffer for 3 long hours before the rescue team arrived. The pain had been so intense that she felt like she was living both their deaths. After that, she just cut herself from the outside world, dealing with the pain inside of her.  
  
She became a very silent child. When she was 14 years old, her 'dad' used that silence against her, when he entered the bedroom that she and her 'sister' slept in.   
He had looked at Eileen, knowing she would not speak, while she watched with horror her sister being raped.  
"You're so weird child, that even I don't want you." he had told her, snorting and covering her sister's head with a shirt.   
That night, Eileen flew down the stairs, and ran as far away from that house as she could. She didn't know why she didn't do something for that poor girl who was being abused by her father. All she could think at that moment was to get the hell away from there. She bought a bus ticket with the little money she had in her pocket and headed for an other town. Seattle.  
She finally ended up at the Jesus Church, where the sisters took great care of her. After all, she really was an orphan, so nobody would look for Eileen Hattaway.   
  
In a week, she was going to be a Sister from the Jesus Church, and that was all she wanted. Those women had helped her in a way that she never thought possible, and was very grateful for it. She still wasn't talking much, but she talked when necessary. Eileen had been helping the poor with Sister Madeleine as a blessing for her. She wanted to make up so bad for not doing anything for her little sister years ago, but Sister Madeleine had told her that it wasn't her fault; she was 14 at the time and reacted like any normal child would react. 'Adults sometimes have trouble dealing with things less worst than that, so don't think less of yourself because of that. You did what you thought was the best for you, and even if sometimes it can be seen as selfishness, it wasn't. You were running for your life Eileen. Now God is giving you a second chance by helping others, it is yours to take it or not.' She had said to her when Eileen told her the whole story about her life.   
And she had chosen; she had made the decision of helping people. She felt good with them; they were her only family. 'They are so good to me. How can I ever repay them for the life they gave me?' she thought to herself while praying. She was sitting in the front row of the church, looking at the Jesus statue that had been repined where it was before falling down yesterday. She frowned. 'Why don't I remember it falling? Why didn't I hear it? All I remember was that I was talking to Father Lacroix and then, blank. Why don't I remember?' Eileen tried to pray in order to put away the thoughts that were running through her mind, but she couldn't.   
  
********  
  
Logan arrived at Sebastian's place at noon. The previous day, before Max had knocked him out of it, they had talked a little, and Sebastian had said that he would do some digging, before informing him on the case of Father Jean Lacroix.  
  
"So", Logan said, trying to understand what had been said. "This Lacroix guy was the priest who exiled himself in Asia after the murder of that sister 5 years ago in Paris. His assistant was the boy who got executed for it, but really was innocent after all, and the French police never found that out. Why?"  
  
"It's not good for publicity to admit you have killed an innocent man." Sebastian replied.  
  
"It's disgusting." Logan said back, feeling like he was about to vomit from what he had just heard.   
  
"It has happened more times than you think Logan."  
  
"I know, that's why it's disgusting. Where was morality in those days? And where is it now?" Logan couldn't understand how someone could prefer saving his public image instead of saving an innocent life.   
  
"There isn't anymore." Sebastian paused before continuing. "This guy is really covering his tracks very well. Finding the proof against him won't be easy. And the sign you showed me on the picture of the dead sister is biblical. It means * Free souls in Heaven. * Like a clear conscience. And I wasn't able to translate all of the words he was saying to this sister on the tape you send me, but it's basically some kind of spell that was used in the early years to clear the souls from unwanted demons -and by demons I mean secrets, diseases like epilepsy, all that sort of things- before dying."   
  
"Before dying?" Logan repeated, not sure he understood.  
  
"Yes, it was practiced when the person was in great pain, and dying. It's some kind of hypnosis, so it makes the pain less perceptible to the dying person." Sebastian answered back. "But I know what you're thinking, and no. Those women who died 10 years ago, and the sister 5 years ago weren't sick at all. But they had money. Money that suddenly disappeared after their death."  
  
"I see…" Logan replied.   
  
"Yeah. And now I heard, that yesterday, Father Lacroix took the plane to Switzerland. Why? Don't know, but we have an idea, right? What else is out there other than banks? And his little departure just might be the help you need to further your little research at the church."  
  
"Sure. A rich girl is what attracts him? I think I know just where to find one." Logan said laughing to himself.  
  
Sebastian looked at him and smiled.  
"She'll never agree to that my friend."  
  
"Well see about that." Logan replied, and wheeled himself out of Sebastian's apartment.  
  
***********  
  
The day at Jam Pony had been the same as usual, but Normal had a cold, so he wasn't yelling as much as usual, which was great for a girl's mood.  
  
"Original Cindy will try to find something to put in Normal's drink to make him sick all the time, because she enjoys not being yelled at a lot."  
  
Max laughed at that.  
"I'm gonna take a shower before going to Logan okay?" Max said before going into the bathroom.  
  
"Ohh…? You're going to Logaaannn…" Teased Original Cindy.  
  
"Yeah. And no it's not because of what you're thinking. We have something to discuss about something that you won't know about." Max said to her on the other side of the door.  
  
"Business?" She asked.  
  
"Exactly."   
  
"Leg work, huh?" Original Cindy wanted to know.  
  
"Shut up boo!"  
  
"Damn! I'll never know what's the dealio with those two." Original Cindy said to herself, walking to the kitchen to make some tea.  
  
10 minutes later Max got out of the shower and went to her bedroom in a towel.  
"I made some tea sweetheart, do you want some?"  
  
"No thanks." Max shouted before closing the door.  
  
Just then, there was a knock on the door, Original Cindy stood up from the couch and opened it. It was Logan.  
  
"Hey Sleepy Head, how are ya today?" She asked him, showing him inside.  
  
"I'm fine, thanks for your concern." He said to her sarcastically smiling.  
  
"Boo's in her room putting on some clothes. It shouldn't be lon…" Original Cindy didn't have the time to finish her sentence that Max got out of her room in her underwear -both black- with her red shirt in her hands, furious. She walked towards Original Cindy without noticing that Logan was almost having a heart attack.   
  
"What the hell did you do to my shirt? Look at it!" Max shouted at her.  
  
"Max…" Said Original Cindy looking at Logan who didn't know where to look anymore.  
  
"Don't Max me! You borrowed it and you gave it back with a hole the size of Arkansas!" Max continued shouting, showing her the hole in her shirt. "Do I look like I can buy shirts whenever I want to? I'm not a freakin' money machine!"   
  
"MAX!" Original Cindy yelled, now having caught her friend's attention. Max stared at her with her right hand on her hip.  
  
"I DIDN'T see the hole in it, and you really SHOULD put something on!" she said to Max.  
  
"What's with you? It's not like you never saw me before!" Max stared at Cindy like she was a crazy woman.  
  
"Me? Yes. But him? No." Original Cindy answered back to Max, showing her their visitor.  
  
Max turned around to see a very silent, flushed Logan, who didn't know where to look anymore. A little squeal got out of her mouth before she turned around and ran to her bedroom.   
  
Original Cindy couldn't help herself anymore and laughed. She then stared at Logan who looked like he hadn't taken a breath in 10 minutes.   
  
"Did you loose your inspiration/expiration functions?" She asked him, who wasn't looking at her at all.  
  
"Hmmm…I'll just…leave…I'll be home if she wants to…whatever…" Logan started to roll himself out of the apartment.  
  
"Will you be alright to drive?" Original Cindy asked, laughing her ass off inside.  
  
********  
  
To be continued…  
  
Please, tell me reviews! Reviews! I want you to talk to me!!! :-]  
Anna  
  
  
  
  
  
  



	5. Strawberries, Chocolate or Me?

Author's note : This one took me forever to write, and I'm sorry. I had some sort of blockage, but it resolved itself by the positive thoughts that I received from Meg and Rudiye. Oh! Oh! And you too Skye! Thanks girls! They send me so many vibes, that I ended up writing 13 pages, which I'm sorry too, but couldn't really cut them. Anyway, if you read it in 2 parts, it's okay too. lol!  
Thanks to you Alejux for reading and making the corrections. xxx  
  
**********************************  
  
Y BlacK MagiC Y  
  
Chapter five: Strawberries, Chocolate, or Me?  
  
Logan closed the door to Max's apartment behind him, thinking he was about to have a stroke. 'Good God! I can't breathe!' He wheeled himself out of the building and got into his car, after taking a few breaths, he started the vehicle and closed his eyes, resting his head on the car seat, feeling his heart beating at a hundred miles an hour. He just couldn't help himself from picturing Max in her underwear, not 3 feet away from him. Logan knew she was a gorgeous woman, but seeing her half naked, and * really* knowing she looked like a Goddess was driving his mind to a whole new level of insanity and self-control; and his self-control was about to break. 'Since last night, I held her in my arms; I kissed her on the neck; I received some sex invitation or something while I was sleeping, and now * this*? How can a man stay calm after that? How am I supposed to look at her without wanting to just touch her soft tan skin with my hands while I just can't get enough of her sweet full lips, the most sensuous lips I've ever seen, and not wanting to just kiss her and taste her skin and feel her touch…OH MY GOSH! STOP THIS INSANITY CALE!' Logan opened his eyes and put his hands on the wheel to drive himself home, but he realized his hands were soaking wet. 'Look at me! I'm a 32 year old man going nuts over a woman like a teenager!' He dried them of his pants and decided it was better to go home before Max saw him.   
  
Surprisingly, he managed to get to Foggle Towers without any accidents. 'I don't even remember driving.' He told himself, while he was in the elevator. 'Bling!…Bling will be there, and he'll know from the moment he'll look at me…oh! no…'  
Logan opened the door and went to the kitchen. No sight of Bling.   
  
"Bling? Are you there?" Logan asked, praying he wasn't there. Nobody answered.  
  
Logan saw a note on the refrigerator's door: "Made dinner. It's in the oven. Be ready at 7:00pm. I'll see you tomorrow. Bling." Logan smiled.   
'I need a beer.' He said to himself, opening the door. 'A good old cold beer.' As he was looking for it, he saw the brown bag he had bought for Max and placed there yesterday just before dinner, while Max was kicking some major Christ butt. 'Oh yeah, I forgot I had that. I have to give it to her before it gets expired.' He smiled again, took the beer and went to his computer. 'If she comes over tonight.'  
  
********  
  
Max nervously ran to her bedroom, wishing she would get stroked down by a lightning. She closed the door and rested her head against it for a few minutes, until she heard Original Cindy saying he had left. 'That's it! I give up! I can't do it anymore!' she walked to her bed, sat on it and started laughing hysterically, releasing the tension. 'What the hell are you talking about Max?' she put on her jeans and her baby blue shirt. She suddenly stood still and began picturing Logan's body language as she had been standing in front of him 5 minutes earlier. She had been so frantic and occupied with her getting out of his sight that she hadn't given him any attention. But her photographic memory was excellent - Manticore's courtesy- and she could remember everything perfectly. 'His eyes were so intense for the singularly millisecond that our eyes had been locked into each other's. God! And his hands holding tight to the wheels of his chair, probably knowing that one gesture of him could reveal right at that moment something he didn't want to. And then his eyes were moving around the place, not being sure of where he should look anymore.' Max took a deep breath, then finally released the air out of her lungs. 'Now I have to go there, and act normally, I can do that, I'm trained to act disregarding feelings; I just have to relax…yeah right, I know what * relax* means to him! If he still wants me to relax the same way he made me last night, I'm not sure I'll behave myself this time! I'm not even sure I behaved well last night…Gosh his body felt so good against mine, and his arms holding on to me like he didn't want me to go…' Max found herself thinking of a certain Logan in his black boxer on Dr. Vertes's physiotherapy chair. 'Hmmm…he *did* look very good in those boxer…his skin looks just yummy…wonder how it would feel against mine…WHAT THE F*CK AM I …?' Her thoughts were stopped by her home girl's voice.  
  
"You better keep those thoughts out of your head sister, because it ain't gonna help you!" She heard Original Cindy say. She turned her head and saw her girl standing near the door, her arms crossed.  
  
"What are you talking about?" Max asked, standing up and walking in the living room, taking her leather jacket, getting ready to leave.  
  
"Original Cindy's talking about that dreamy face you just had." She said, following Max in the kitchen.  
  
"I can do the faces I want to do, I can wear what I want to wear, and I can go where I choose to go. No need for you to mom me."   
  
"Aiight sweetheart, but don't tell me afterwards IT was a mistake or Original Cindy's gonna bitch slap you!"   
  
"IT? I don't know precisely what the IT is, and no need for a definition here, because I know what you're talking about in general," Max said in a joyful tone, "and I'm not thinking about mistakes or anything of that matter. The only mistake I could do would be ignoring what I know exist. And then, you could say I'm the dumbest thing you've ever seen for having done anything."  
  
"You ARE the dumbest thing I've ever saw." Original Cindy said to her boo, smiling, before Max closed the door behind her, returning her boo's smile.  
  
"The night should be interesting." She thought, walking to her baby -the ninja of course.  
  
********  
  
Eileen looked out of the window of her office, watching the sun disappear into the horizon. 'It's so beautiful.' She looked for about two minutes and then returned to the papers she was doing. Eileen was very good with numbers and she had been in charge of the church funds since she was 21 years old. She was staring at the numbers.   
  
"It doesn't work. The "in" and "out" don't balance. There's money missing. I don't understand. Who would take 10 thousand dollars? None of the sisters here are that selfish…well, at least I think not. No, no, they just couldn't take that money out of the poor's needs. And I'd know; I would feel it if someone wasn't true to her vocation. I must have miscalculated it." Eileen counted the numbers all over again. Same numbers. 'What's going on? Weird things are going on here; I can smell it. Something's not right.' she thought. Eileen stood up and opened the files of all of last year's in and out. 'I have to find why this money's missing.' She took a deep breath, grabbed her hair putting them in a ponytail, and sat down. "I'm not going to bed tonight until I find out why it's missing."   
  
********  
  
Max arrived at Logan's penthouse at 5:30pm. She went inside without knocking,   
to avoid the awkward moment of having him opening the door to her. As soon as she got in, she heard him talking, so she followed his voice. He was sitting behind his computer -what a surprise!- and was talking to someone. 'He's so handsome.' Max thought.   
  
"Thanks Sebastian, yes, we'll get into it as soon as we can." He paused, obviously listening to what Sebastian was telling him. "I know, but I don't know if she'll come tonight…No, something came up at the last minute…" He scratched his hair, smiling nervously to himself, remembering Max running towards her bedroom when she saw he was there. "Okay then, bye." And he hung up.   
  
"Hey." said Max, staring at him from the doorway, feeling a bit uncomfortable. Logan quickly turned his head to face her, after hearing the sound of her voice, and smiled.  
  
"Hey yourself." He could see she was nervous even though she was looking at him straight in the eyes. "Hmmm…" he said looking at her mischievously like he was searching for something, "Did you change your hair or something? You look different."   
  
"I've put some clothes on." She answered back, smiling at him and feeling the tension ease down a little.  
  
"Ah…yes, I forgot." He said, smiling back. "That must be it then."   
  
"Didn't know I was THAT forgettable." She said more to herself than to him, as she followed him to the kitchen.   
  
Logan opened the oven's door and after a few seconds of reflection, decided to drop the level of heat. He then closed it, and turned his chair around in a way that he could see Max face to face. He saw that she was smiling, so she has been kidding about that " I'm forgettable" phrase, but Logan could see in her eyes that she was wondering if she really is.   
  
"I have a good memory." He said to Max, half kidding, half-serious.  
  
They stared at each other for quite a time, not knowing what to say or do next. It was like the two of them were waiting for the other to do something, but they were both frozen, even if the blood coursing in their veins was extremely hot. Max decided to break the tension before having an aneurysm.  
  
"So, you were talking to Sebastian? Does he have any news?" 'God, I won't be able to go through the night.'  
  
"As a matter of fact, yes. And I think we should go to the Church now, and then eat later. Are you hungry?" 'Because we wont be going to the Church later on if we eat right now. Not with the way her eyes are staring at me.'  
  
"I can wait." Max replied, shrugging her shoulder. 'I've been waiting for over 6 months…what's 2 more hours?'  
  
"Let's go then." Logan said, rolling himself to the front door. He opened the door, showing her the way out. "After you." He said, giving her his most charming smile.  
  
"Thank you." She smiled at him, wondering why he was so gentleman-like all of a sudden. "To what do I owe this good manner?" She asked Logan, while he closed the door of his apartment.  
  
"I need a favor." He looked guilty. 'She's going to kill me.'  
  
"I knew it! What kind of *a favor*?" Max asked, not sure she really wanted to know.  
  
"I received some information about this Lacroix guy, and well, I'd need you to impersonate a wannabe Sister of the Jesus Church." Logan got that out in one breath, just hoping she wasn't going to snap his neck. But Max just stared at him with wide eyes.  
  
"Are you freakin' serious? Me, a SISTER? A genetically enhanced killing machine wishing to give her non-existent soul to God while she knows that Belzebuth must be the private guardian of her soul? They will never believe that!" She looked at him and wondered if he had lost his intelligence in her living room earlier -like most average guys do when they see a woman in her drawers. "You ARE serious…"  
  
"The hell I am! What better way is there for us to find what we want? You'd have a foot inside and then be able to search for information. It will work Max." He opened the door of his Aztec and got inside. "And stop saying you're some sort of zombie -you're not a body with no soul."  
  
"Fine." She said.  
  
"So, you'll do it?" There was almost hope in his voice, which made her smile.  
  
"How can I not? And I don't want to have another murder or disaster on my conscience." Max replied, thinking about Sunrisa.  
  
"You see? Conscience. Zombies don't have that." Logan smirked.  
  
"Shut up and drive Logan!" She answered, laughing.  
  
"Yes m'mam!" Logan started the car and drove in the direction of the church.  
  
*********  
  
They arrived at the church at 6:00pm.   
"You better keep that leather jacket in the car." Logan advised Max.  
  
"Right." She said, getting it off of her. "A sister in leather isn't what we're used to see." She sighed. "I hope I can pull it off."   
  
"Of course you can." He got out of the car. "Just do a lost puppy face and they will have pity on you."  
  
"And who will YOU be?" She said, frowning.  
  
"Your brother." Logan smiled.  
  
"Great. Like I needed another control-freak one." Max said, thinking of Zack.   
  
They got inside the Jesus Church and walked down the main aisle. Logan saw a Sister praying in the front seat and pointed her to Max. She made an OK sign with her head, lifted her index as if to say "Wait a sec, I have to do something first", and then she walked towards the candles. There were almost 500 of them. She put a quarter in the box and started lighting one candle, and then two. 'This one is for Eva, and this one is for my mother, wherever she is, on this earth or not.' She crossed herself and walked directly to the sister, who looked at Max as she approached her. 'Can't be bad for the Sister there to actually see me praying…it's been ages though, don't even know if I crossed right.'  
  
"Yes Child, can I help you with something?" Sister Madeleine asked, in a very peaceful and trustful voice.  
  
"Actually yes Sister." Max said in a soft, innocent voice. "I would like to become one of your own, and I wonder if you'd have a place for me in your church."   
  
Sister Madeleine looked at her with kind eyes, and stood up.  
"Sure, what is your name?"  
  
"I'm Julia Grey, and this is my brother Colin." Max said as she saw Logan coming near them.  
  
"Pleased to meet you. I'm Sister Madeleine. Follow me upstairs and I'll show you to the office." She turned around realizing that the brother was in a wheelchair, and she said to Logan. "I'm sorry Mr. Grey, we'll take the elevator." They got in and when Sister Madeleine opened the door to the office she saw that Eileen was still there. "Good grace child! You're still here?"   
  
Eileen stared at her friend, tired of trying to find out where the lost money had gone.  
"Yes, there's something I'm working on that's taking me more time than I thought." She said. 'No need to tell her I'm probably going to sleep in here.' She lifted her head from the papers and saw a black haired girl that was staring at her like she had seen her before.  
  
"Eileen, this is Julia Grey and her brother Colin. She wants to join our community." Sister Madeleine told her.   
  
"Hi!" Eileen said, taking the hand Max was giving her. 'She looks familiar to me…why?'  
  
"Pleased to meet you Eileen." Max said. 'It's the woman who was in there when I kicked Jesus' ass!'  
  
"Do you know each other?" Sister Madeleine asked, after seeing the two girls stare at each other awkwardly.   
  
"No." They both said at the same time.  
  
'What's going on?' Logan thought.  
  
"I'd like for Julia to answer the admission forms before it goes in front of the committee."  
  
For some reason Eileen wanted to talk to the girl without Sister Madeleine being there.   
"Oh yeah. Of course. Let me do that, it's okay, I'm not going anywhere for the next 2 hours anyway, I'll give it to her, no problem. Thank you Sister Madeleine." She stared at Eileen, and nodded before closing the door behind her. Eileen continued staring at Max, she was trying to feel something out of her, but she couldn't sense anything.   
  
'That woman's a weirdo.' Max thought. 'But there's something about her…'  
  
"Is everything alright?" Logan asked, Max turned around to look at him, and that's when Eileen got the vibes from both of them.   
She felt a very strong feeling coming from Max, and she responded to that by a chest pain. Eileen tried to take a deep breath but it was blocked. Too many vibes were going through her right now. 'Good God!' She could feel the pain of the childhood of the woman in front of her, and the struggle of the guy she knew as Colin for everything in his life. Eileen took a deep breath, even it felt like she was inspiring razor blades, and took a sip of water, staring at them, almost on the verge of crying.  
  
"Are you okay?" Max asked softly, seeing that no, she wasn't okay.  
  
"Who are you?" Eileen asked frankly. "Who are you really?"  
  
"I don't understand…" Max started to say to her, but she got cut.  
  
"I think you do." She said to Max, knowing the girl knew something about her, but couldn't quite define what it was. "For some reason you know me, but I don't remember seeing you." Max turned towards Logan and he stared at her, as shocked as she was. "And this guy isn't your brother." Eileen added. 'If he was, you two would have some twisted relationship.' She told herself.  
  
"How do you know?" Max said uncomfortably, feeling she could somehow trust her, but hoping that the girl wouldn't reveal too much either. Eileen understood how they felt, and knew she wasn't about to tell them what they should do. 'It's none of my business anyway.'   
  
"Lets just say I have some sort of a sixth sense." Eileen told them, who didn't seem surprised by her *out of the common* sort of power.  
  
"I thought you were about to choke for a minute." Logan said to Eileen, who had now regained her self-control.  
  
"Well, you two are like bombs ready to explode, but lets not talk about that, shall we?" She showed Max a seat and Logan reluctantly rolled besides Max, not ready to trust her yet. "Something tells me you'll elucidate my problem."  
  
"What problem?" Logan asked.  
  
"First, I'm Eileen Hattaway, and you are…?"  
  
"Lets just let it at Julia and Colin for the moment." Max said back.  
  
"Fine. Now, tell me *Julia* why do I have the feeling I know you?" Eileen asked Max, knowing that if the girl lied, she would know right at the second she opened her mouth.  
  
"I was here yesterday, and saw you in here, but you didn't see me." Max started to say, knowing perfectly Logan wanted her to be careful with what she was going to say, but Max knew in her guts that she could trust Eileen.  
  
"Yesterday…when?" Eileen seemed in her thoughts for a moment.  
  
"Just before the Jesus' statue fell down." Max answered her.  
  
"I don't remember it falling down, which is rather strange because those walls are very echoing and I was in here."  
  
"You were HERE exactly, in this office."  
  
"Huh? I don't understand…"  
  
"Do you know a man who goes by the name of Lacroix?" Logan asked her, realizing that she was the girl Max had seen in a trance, and so, probably his next victim.  
  
"Sure." She said to him surprised. "He's the new priest of this church. Why does it have anything to do with him?"   
  
"I thought you had a sixth sense? Couldn't you read his thoughts or something?" Logan said, not ready to trust this girl yet.  
  
"Max's thoughts and feelings were surrounded by the Great Wall Of China before you spoke to her. That's only then that a door opened for me. Father Lacroix is a very private person, and I never was able to feel him. It happens from time to time." Eileen stared at the *couple* in front of her. 'And I thought my life was complicated…'  
  
"What I saw is Father Lacroix talking to you in what sounded like Hebrew, doing some kind of incantation. You were completely out of it. I put my face an inch away from yours and you didn't even blink."  
  
"That explains why I don't remember some events of the day…But he's a sweet man, why would he do that? Why me? What is he doing to me? And I don't even speak Hebrew!"  
  
Logan explained to Eileen the murders that occurred 10 years ago, and then the one that took place in a Catholic church 5 years ago. That they were all related to this man for some reason, and that she probably was in danger."  
  
"But I'm poor! I don't own a dollar!" Eileen almost shouted at them in disbelief.  
  
"From what I can see on the desk, you're in charge of the Church's money." Logan added, more like a statement than a question.  
  
Eileen looked at the numbers on the papers and closed her eyes.  
"Yes." She sat down. "That's it! There's 10 thousand dollar missing from the bank account for the funds we got last year to repair the shelter, and that's it! I can't believe that son of a bitch made me sign the releases…" She stopped talking, joined her hands in a prayer, said a quick 'Sorry father I didn't mean to say those words.' and got back to them. "I've been searching for 6 hours now where did I put that money, and now I know: I gave it to him!" She was furious, and was surprised how much she talked tonight. "I trusted that…that lame excuse as a human being!"  
  
"Can you help us put him behind bars?" Logan asked Eileen.  
  
"You bet! I've never hurt anyone in my life, and now he wants to kill me?" She stopped walking and looked at Max. "You had government training. Are you in the police department?"  
  
"No." Max simply replied to her question. 'Damn!'  
  
"We're helping a friend who is. Let's just leave it at that." Logan didn't really want this woman knowing about Manticore.  
  
"Okay, I'll find out anyway, one way or the other." She snapped at him. 'This man doesn't like me. Nor trust me. Well, can't really blame him, he must have plenty of enemies.'  
  
"For the moment," Max told Eileen, "he's out of the city, even on the other side of the ocean, so he's not going to do anything until he comes back. Do you know where he lives, here, in this city?"  
  
"No, I think he's got a hotel room." She took a deep breath, feeling a huge headache coming. "Can we discuss this tomorrow, please? I just can't deal with all of this right now. I need to sleep, and then I swear I'll be of any help if I can." She saw them look concerned. "I'll keep my mouth shut, I promise."  
  
"It's okay." Max said to Logan. "I think we can trust her word."   
  
"You THINK? Thinking isn't enough here."   
  
"Hey people!" Eileen said to get their attention. "It wouldn't help me if I talked, I want to stay alive, remember?" Logan and Max stared at each other and agreed.  
  
"Fine." They both said to Eileen Hattaway, who just sat there, while they were leaving, not believing in what she had put her feet in.   
  
"A mess Eileen, A big huge mess!"  
  
*********  
  
Max and Logan arrived at his place around 8:00pm. The dinner was more than ready, but Logan had almost closed the heat when they left, so it would still be good.  
  
"I don't like it Max." Logan said to her, opening the oven's door while she was putting the plates on the table. "She seems to know about you, I don't like it."  
  
"I know, but I don't think she knows where I come from. I'm safe, and I think she sensed that she shouldn't mess with me or I'll kick her a$$." She said smiling at him. He looked at her and grinned.  
  
"Don't take this that lightly." Logan said to Max, out of concern.  
  
"I'm not taking it *à la légère* Logan, it's just that I can feel she's trustworthy. And it's more us wanting to help her, than her helping us. So it's in her advantage to shut up and let us do our work."   
  
"Yeah, maybe you're right. I just don't want you to…"   
  
"I know, but it will be fine." Max cut him. "Hmmm, that smells delicious!"  
  
"Roast beef à la Bling!" Logan said, laughing.  
  
"Oh, à la Bling? Really…should we be scared?" Max asked, laughing.  
  
"No, he followed my recipe, so it will be great, as usual."  
  
"What an ego!"  
  
"You're the one telling me I'm a God in the kitchen!" He said, defending his male ego.  
  
"I know. But maybe you'll say I am too after tomorrow, when you'll have tasted my fine cuisine." Max told Logan, as if she was a great Chef.  
  
"Hmmm…should I be scared?" He risked asking.  
  
"Hey! You don't ask those things, it's not ethical!" She replied, trying to look offended by his remark. "And NO, I'm sure it will be very good!" Max bit her lip. 'I hope so…'  
  
After dinner, while they were sipping the wine in the living room, he went to the kitchen, and got back with the brown bag.  
  
"What is that?" Max was suddenly curious. "It's not ticking I hope!" She smiled.  
  
"Nope! It's not a bomb, not for today." He sat on the couch besides Max. "Remember last week when you told me the 2 things you had never tasted?"   
  
"Sure. Strawberries and chocolate. Well, I tasted strawberries jam, but never the real fruit."  
  
"So never the real chocolate either."  
  
"Wow, you must be Intelligence incarnated." Max teased him.  
  
"I got my hands on those two items." Logan said, proud of himself.  
  
"Really? Even the Belgium chocolate?" 'Wow, I'm impressed…again.'  
  
"Even the Belgium chocolate." Logan replied.  
  
"Are you going to repeat everything I say? Because it's very annoying!" Max told him, with a half smile.  
  
"Close your eyes." He ordered.  
  
"Why?" Max asked, surprised. "I already know what it is."  
  
"Would you just close your eyes Max and stop fighting me! It will taste better, with your mind concentrating only on the flavor, which you won't taste often at the price they sell those things."  
  
"Hope I didn't ruin you." She teased him.  
  
"Don't worry, I think I've got enough money for a second strawberry bag in the future." Max closed her eyes, still smiling. "Okay," he said like a schoolboy, "open your mouth, because this truffle is almost melting itself in my hands." Max obeyed, even if this was a bit uncomfortable to her, and took the truffle in her mouth, and then started chewing it.   
  
Logan stared at her face, seeing the delight, which was delighting him that she was delighted.  
  
"Hmmm!" Max said, taking her time to taste the chocolate. "I've never tasted something so good in my life! Oh Logan! That is so good!" Max couldn't believe the wonderful taste of that little chocolate ball. "Oh my god!"  
  
'Okay now stop saying my name like that!' He thought to himself.  
  
"Hmmm, that was exquisitely good!" Max said, still looking for some piece of it in her mouth. "Is there another one?" She asked smiling like a little girl, her eyes still closed.  
  
"No. But there's something else!" Logan answered, enjoying seeing Max's face while she discovered new food. He still remembered his first strawberry, and how he had eaten it like it was something he would never eat again. He stared at Max, not being afraid she would see his face because her eyes were closed, so he could just stare at her without ending. 'She's so beautiful.' He told himself.  
  
"Logan? I want more!" She said, biting her lips. 'Hmm, that is so good! That so tasted like Heaven!' He laughed.  
  
"It's good isn't it? Okay", he took the fresh bloody-red strawberry in his hand, took the leaf out and told her to open her mouth again, putting the fruit in her mouth. "Outch! That was my finger!" He said laughing.  
  
"Sorry!" She giggled. "Is it still there?"  
  
"Yeah, I still have five, well…four and a half."   
  
"Oh my God! That just tastes like…like…"  
  
"Strawberries?"  
  
"Very funny." She chewed the rest of the fruit, savoring the last moments. "Oh Logan, that was divine! Is there another one?" Max asked playfully.  
  
"Well, there are other strawberries in the bag, yes." He looked inside and took another one.  
  
"No, no, no…I meant 'Is there something else to taste'?" She clarified for him.  
  
"Huh…" Logan answered. 'I should have looked for other food!' He thought. "No, there isn't."  
  
"Never two without three! I'm sure you'll think of something." Max said to Logan, trying to stay calm, but hoping he'd get the message.  
Logan stopped staring at the strawberry and fixed Max, for a long time, not sure he understood what she was saying. 'Is she thinking what I'm thinking she's thinking? Am I making any sense here? Oh my God…'  
  
"Looogaaan…? Is anybody home?" Max asked after a few minutes of silence.   
  
"I'm thinking." Logan said, very seriously.   
  
"Don't think all night, or I may fall asleep! Just pick the first thing that came into your mind, that I haven't tasted yet, *really* tasted." Max repeated. 'Please! Please Logan, kiss me! Kiss me! Maybe I'll have to do it myse…' She didn't have the time to finish her thoughts when she felt his lips on hers. She responded to the kiss immediately, letting the soft touch of his lips give her a warm feeling. Max felt his hand taking a strand of her hair and ended behind her head as she caressed his neck with her hands on each side of his face. Both of them opened their lips to each other, exploring each other's mouth, sending electric currents each time their tongue intertwined themselves. It was what Max had always thought. 'He IS a very good kisser!' Just when she thought he was playing it safe -not like those teenagers who just plunge their tongues on the back of your throat to get more sensations faster- she felt him pressing his lips harder on hers, passionately, sending her waves of desire like she never thought she could have, and taking her breath away. Her heart was beating very fast, and the next thing she knew, she was sitting on his lap. Logan broke the kiss a little bit after that, looking at her with great desire.  
  
"Max…I have to breathe…" He whispered to her out of breath, staring at those beautiful brown eyes he loved so much, mostly when they were looking at him with so much passion. "So…which one's the winner?" He asked her, smiling devilishly.  
  
"I'm not sure." Max said back mischievously, her arms around his neck, staring at his gorgeous blue eyes. "I think I didn't taste the third one long enough to make a final decision…"  
  
"I totally agree…" Logan replied just before Max pushed her lips further on his, sending him flying to the moon.  
  
*****************  
  
To be continued…  
  
Reviews please! Speak to me! Talk to your sweet Anna!   
Tell me if it's bad, tell me if it's good…but don't stay silent. :-)  
  
Anna  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  



	6. Love, Pride & Vodka

I'm really sorry this took so long. It's not that I didn't have the time; it's mainly because of my lack of inspiration to write these days. But I think it worked out fine after all, and I hope you enjoy it.  
Okay, at first, I thought I was going to post it in 3 parts, but I don't like my story in 3 parts, so I'll put it in it's entirety. If you think it's too long, tell me. J  
  
***************************  
Y BlacK MagiC Y  
  
Chapter six: Love, Pride & Vodka   
  
  
Logan's place, towards 10:00pm.  
  
Max and Logan were on the couch, holding on to each other, kissing.  
'I can't stop!' Max thought. 'Oh my god this feels so good.' She pressed her lips harder on Logan's, opening her mouth wider, searching his tongue to gently suck it, aching for the magnificent warmth inside her heart that this was giving her. 'Why did we wait for so long…stupid pride?' Max was holding on to him like she was afraid he would run out of the room. 'Good thing he can't.'   
  
'Sweet Jesus!' Logan said to himself, answering passionately Max's kisses with his heart pounding in his chest like it would jump out of his rib cage. 'I'm in heaven…'   
Max tightened her grip on him, crossing her legs, encircling him. As some sort of reflex, fearing she would fall, he put his hands on her hips, and found himself touching her bare skin, exposed by her short T-shirt. 'Goodness…oh my freakin' God…this is so soft…I'm a dead man, she'll kill me for this.' He couldn't help the fact that he HAD to feel her, touch her, so he started moving his fingers on her back, moving softly up her spine. This was exciting for both of them, and Logan realized Max liked it as she shivered under his touch. Max pressed her lips harder on his, and sled her hands under his shirt. 'I think I'm going to faint…' Logan left her lips to kiss her neck, hearing the exquisite sound of Max breathing fast, deeply, and full of desire for him.   
He then heard Max mumbling something inaudible.   
  
"What?" Logan asked, between kisses.  
  
"Bling…?" She asked, out of breath.  
  
"Day off. Zack?" Questioned Logan as he was changing sides of her neck, caressing the other side with his hand gently brushing her hair.  
  
"Out of Seattle…supposedly." Max whispered, her heart beating strongly and fast. 'For the love of Mike…what are you doing to me?'  
  
"Good." He stared into her eyes with an intensity she had never seen before, making her flush; as she felt her knees weaken.  
  
"Great." Max replied, finding her voice. 'Ah, those magnificent blue-green eyes…staring at me like I'm some sort of a treasure…I feel like the luckiest woman in the whole world.' She thought when he pressed his lips on hers again, but this time it was different, full of meaning, desire, and passion. Even full of promises to come. It was like those two were finally admitting what they should have told themselves a long time ago. It wasn't words; the act was enough to speak for itself. The words would come out eventually, but for now it didn't matter; to feel love for the first time with each other was all they needed.  
  
'I can't believe this is happening!' Max thought, when she heard a voice. A male voice, and it wasn't Logan's. They both stopped what they were doing and looked at each other's.  
  
"Sebastian." They said in synchronization, not knowing if they should laugh or cry about it.  
  
"We will never have peace, will we?" Max asked with a smile.  
  
"Nope!" Logan answered, slightly laughing. "Not with the lives we're living." He gently caressed Max's cheek and kissed her.  
  
Max got out of his lap and he placed himself in his wheelchair, rolling towards his computer where Sebastian's face was showing.  
  
"Hi! Sebastian." Logan said, trying to compose himself.  
  
"Hi! Logan. I was starting to ask myself if you were home."  
  
"I was occupied…" Logan answered, trying not to blush. "So…what's new?"  
  
"I just got informed that Lacroix is on his way back. He took the plane of 19:00, so he'll be back towards 2:00 this morning." Sebastian said as Max came behind Logan and placed her hands on his shoulder, bending forwards as she slide them on his chest, and kissed his neck.  
  
"Max…", said Logan nervously, "if we can see him, then he can see us too."   
  
To that, she stopped her ministration and looked up at the screen. Sebastian had a little smile on his face.  
"Hi! Max." He said. 'If he could laugh out loud, I bet he'd just do that.' Max thought.  
  
"Hey." She replied shyly smiling, standing up straight behind Logan. "So the priest is on his way back?" She asked, trying to focus his mind on something else.  
  
"Yes. So, whatever you were planning on doing later, better do it now…and what you planned on doing now, better do it later." Sebastian said, teasing them. "You have about 4 hours…"  
  
"…to complete the mission." Max finished for him. She looked at Logan with concern in her eyes. "Eileen could be in danger, we don't know what he planned for her."  
  
"Eileen?" Sebastian asked, being ignorant of the new girl.  
  
"Her name is Eileen Hattaway." Logan started to say. "She's a wannabe Sister from the Jesus Church, and seems to be Lacroix's next victim."  
  
"Does she know what's going on?" He asked them.  
  
"Yes, and she agreed to help us." Logan cleared to him.   
  
"She should be warned then, and maybe it would be better for her not to sleep over there. Does she live at the Sister's dormitory?"  
  
"I think so." Max replied to Sebastian before turning over to face Logan. "I'll go get her."   
  
"Okay." He said, nodding his head. "Be careful."   
  
"Are you afraid the girl's gonna beat me up?" She asked mockingly, but she was glad he cared that much. 'I'd just kiss him if Sebastian wasn't watching.'  
  
"Don't ask me not to tell you that Max, because I'll always say it." She smiled at him and closed the door behind her. 'Now I know how my mom must have felt when she was telling me to be careful before I went to school each morning.' Logan thought. 'I've never said it to Valerie...weird.'  
  
***************  
  
Eileen was sitting at her desk, still trying to find out what was happening to her. She couldn't believe that after all the things she lived in her life, something was still going wrong with her. 'I'll never have a calm and decent life!' She told herself. She had thought that by becoming a catholic sister, everything would finally settle down, and by everything, she meant mostly the little voice who can't stop speaking to her.  
  
There was another reason why she wanted to live here, and there was a reason why she almost never spoke. All her life, she lived with the guilt of her parent's death. She remembered pulling on her daddy's sleeve to get his attention because she had just discovered how to make really big bubbles with her bubblegum, and when he finally looked at her, he found himself too distracted to notice a car that was coming right on to them. And then there was her 'sister'. It was like a jungle in her head; never stopping; the guilt, the voices speaking to her.   
  
Anyone else then those kind sisters had never accepted her, and she felt like she belonged there. They were accepting her as she was. Pure and simple, without wanting to change her. She remembered those words said to her all those years ago, and it still hurt her: "Nobody will want you…You are so weird girl…Nobody…"She knew she was weird looking, not because she was ugly, but because of what people saw in her eyes while staring into them. Her sight was too deep; reflecting pain, fear, and knowing all too many things about the horrors of this world. Having too many emotions -feeling too much people- isn't always a good thing. 'There are people afraid of not being able to feel enough, but I can say that feeling too much isn't a good thing either.'   
  
Eileen stood up from her chair, took a deep breath and looked at the clock: 11:00pm. "I should go to bed, there's nothing more I can do here."   
She was closing the key drawer when she heard a noise. She stared at the door in panic. 'Why am I freaked out? What if it's that Lacroix who's back, and what if he plays with my brain again?…I don't like this…' She stood up quickly and turned off the lights of the office. 'What do I do? What do I do?…It could be one of the sisters…but usually, they're all sleeping at this hour since they wake up at 5am to pray.' She slowly opened the door and looked outside. 'Nothing. Oops! There's that noise again…like someone walking downstairs…I don't like this.' She tried to hide herself when she opened the door, and looked downstairs. There was a man there. She could only see him from the back, but could tell it was a man. Tall, dark hair. Not Lacroix. 'Sweet Jesus…Who's this? The doors of the Jesus Church are locked at this hour.' She returned to the office, closed the door, locked it, and pickup up the phone. 'Maybe they will laugh at me for this, but I have weird vibes about this.' She dialled 911, and as soon as a voice answered, she told them, that there was a breaking and entering in progress at the Jesus Church…and that the guy was still there. She hung up, hoping that they would take a wannabe catholic sister seriously, and come.  
  
****************  
  
When Max arrived at the church, she parked her bike up front, but there was a no parking sign. 'It's almost midnight and it will only for a few minutes anyway…' She then noticed that the door wasn't locked. "Mmmm…is this normal or something? I know there are churches that never close their door to homeless, but this one?…' She looked at the door and saw that the lock was crushed. "Shit!" She slowly walked in, trying to sense her surroundings, adjusting her sight to the darkness, when she saw a man. She automatically hid herself from him. 'I have a bad feeling about this…Where is Eileen?' She walked towards the man, without a sound, and holding her breath. She followed him and saw he wanted to go up the stairs. 'The office…he wants to go in.' But before he walked up, the man dropped the suitcase on the floor, hide it, and walked up the stairs. Max stared at the suitcase, intrigued. She didn't go up and opened it instead. There was money, plenty of money. 'Damn…there's about 5M in here!'   
It was then that she heard a click behind her head. 'Shit!' she turned around slowly and faced the man, he was Asian.   
  
"Who are you?" The man asked her with an accent, still pointing the gun at her, obviously being aware she wasn't a none.  
  
"I'm the Tooth Fairy, couldn't you tell?" Max answered. "And I hate guns." To that she kicked his hands and took the gun out of his reach. But the guy knew how to defend himself, he made a 360degree turn and kicked her hard in the stomach, to which Max fell down but jumped back on her two feet rapidly. "Well, well, well…looks like the rat can defend himself." They went into a sequence of feet and arms kicks. Max didn't see the knife in his hands, but she felt it when the blade entered her flesh on her left side, below the ribs. "Son of a bitch!" She yelled at him before kicking it away from his hands.   
  
"POLICE!" They heard a voice on the back of the church.   
'I know that voice.' Max thought. The Asian man kicked Max on her wound, which made her cried for pain and search for air, then he took his money, and ran away from there before the police could see he was even here.   
  
"Fucking bastard!" Max cursed under her teeth.  
  
"You!" She heard the police officer say. Max turned around and saw the officer she had met on the day she had gotten arrested pointing a gun on her forehead. "What have you done again? Terrorizing poor sisters now? Wanted to steel candles?"  
  
"If it isn't Mr. Pervo in person!" Max ironically said. "Well, candles can be needed, it IS dark outside."   
  
"I told you not to cross my path again." He said back, still pointing the gun. "You made a big mistake tonight."  
  
"Believe me, it wasn't my intention to do so." She managed to say, the pain growing inside of her. Her leather jacket could hide the red spot on her blue shirt, but she could feel the blood going down her leg.  
  
Eileen had seen Max fight with the man and was now pretty sure that girl had some sort of military training. When she saw the big fat police officer point a gun to her head, she decided it was time to show herself.  
  
"Hello Julia, and would you mind telling me why, Officer, you are pointing a gun at my friend's head?" She calmly said. Max looked at her, surprised, and thanked god she didn't know her real name.   
  
"You mean that you KNOW her?" Mr. Pervo said, astonished.  
  
"Yes, she came to pick me up." Eileen said back, seeing the guy didn't like this 'Julia' girl, but feeling she somehow had to do something about it. "And stop pointing that gun on her head! I called because of a tall man here, not a 110-pound girl. But he's gone now. Thank you, I don't need your services anymore." She said to him in a tone that pretty much meant GET OUT!  
  
"Hey Mother Teresa, mind your own business would you? This is between that b1tch and me. Go pray or something." He told Eileen, who started fuming at his comments.  
  
"Hey! Watch your mouth!" Max said at the same time that Eileen said:  
  
"Are YOU saying that to ME?" She was pissed, oh really pissed. "Go pray?" She walked near him, knowing perfectly he would never pull the trigger on a sister. "If you don't drop your gun and leave right now, as I politely asked you to, I'll make a report on you that will end your career for life, is that clear? Now, you'll take your…" Eileen paused, searching for the right words.  
  
"Big fat ass…" Completed Max.  
  
"Thank you, exactly-what-she-said out of the place, and you'll put in tonight's report that there was a tall Asian guy in here, about 6 feet, but that he ran out from the back of the church, which is exactly what happened. Are we clear on this one?" She asked him, looking at him right in the eye, to that he looked down from her stare. "I know about the Andrews case…" She whispered to him, still staring at him, which he looked at her, surprised with fear. "I could destroy your life, your family." She said, walking a few step back from him.  
  
"Is there a problem in there Willis?" Asked another officer that got in the church.   
  
Max and Eileen eyed each other for a fraction of a second and then fixed Officer Willis. He grinned and turned back from them.  
  
"No, everything's clear." He shot them an evil look and got out of the church with his partner.  
  
"You're okay?" Eileen asked.  
  
"I won't die." Max told her. "What was that all about?"  
  
"Corruption." Eileen simply answered. Max nodded.  
  
"Now lets get out of here, Lacroix is on his way." Max said, walking towards her bike with Eileen behind. "The son of a bitch! He gave me a ticket!" Max said, taking the paper in her hands. $100. "Bastard!"  
  
****************  
  
Max and Eileen got into Logan's apartment around midnight. Max had trouble walking but she managed to walk straight in front of Logan, who rolled in.  
  
"Hey, is everything all right?" He asked them, Eileen looked at Max, sensing her pain, but Max didn't say anything.  
  
"Yeah. Would you mind showing Eileen to her room?" She said to him, walking towards the bathroom.  
  
"Sure…" He said back, looking at Max strangely, and showed Eileen to the guest room. "There's everything you need in the wardrobe."   
  
"Do you have a First Aid kit?" Eileen asked Logan.  
  
"Yes…are you hurt?" He saw the blood spot on her shirt. "Are you alright?" He asked, concerned. 'Why didn't I see it before?'  
  
Eileen saw his eyes on her shirt and follows his gaze. She hadn't seen it.   
"Oh…it's not mine." She didn't have to say it twice that he was already out of the room.   
  
**************  
  
Max got into the bathroom and started to take out her jacket with great pain. Her shirt was soaking with blood on her left side, as was her pants.   
  
"Damn…" She opened a drawer and took a towel to put on the floor. She stepped on it and tried to take her shirt off, but the cotton was stuck into the wound where there was dried blood. She grinned. "Dammit!" She unzipped her pants and delicately took them off. There was a trace of blood on the side of her leg. She put her hands on the counter, trying to focus her mind to control the pain, but she felt the blood from her head drop. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, and a second one. "Come on soldier…you can deal with pain." She told herself. Max reopened her eyes and took her right arm off the shirt first, and then her head, and then she was able to take her left arm off the shirt too, but not without pain. The blood clot was stuck into the fabric, so the blue shirt was glued to her flesh. Max tried to pull out a little but it was like she was tearing her flesh apart.   
"Whoa…" She moaned. 'If I do it like we do with plaster, it will hurt for only 3 seconds, right?' She closed her eyes as she was taking a breath; making herself ready to pull the shirt out of her wound. "One…two…thr…" She began to count, but got stopped.  
  
"Max don't!" Logan almost yelled when he opened the door and saw what she was about to do. He had knocked on twice-which Max hadn't heard- and after waiting a few seconds, he had decided to come in. "Are you nuts?! You're going to bleed like a pig if you do that." He said to her, the latter more softly then his first statement.  
  
She looked at Logan who came near her and smiled.  
"Two times in the same day you see me in my underwear…you're getting lucky." Logan smiled but stayed serious. And then Max grimaced from the pain.   
  
Eileen knocked on the door.  
"I have something that I think she could use…" She said from the outside of the door. Logan went to open the bathroom door and, and when he did, he Eileen, with a bottle of Vodka in her hands. "For the pain." She explained.  
  
"Thanks." And he closed the door back.  
  
"Max, why didn't you tell me? I want to know when this happens." He said, opening the hot water. "Here, take 2 or 3 big gulps of that." She took the bottle from his hands.  
  
"Didn't want you to worry." She took the Vodka. "You want me drunk now?"  
  
"Exactly, this way, you'll do what I want." He replied mockingly. "Now, I'll put that hot water on your skin to soften the clot and be able to pull out that shirt without all your skin following it, okay?"  
  
"How do you know to do this?" Max asked as he took the glass next to the sink and fill it with hot water.  
  
"I was a very active boy, and I had a great mom." He smiled, remembering all of those times when he got into trouble as a kid.  
  
"Really?" Max smiled. "You gave your poor mama angina attacks?"  
  
"Oh yes!" He replied, laughing. "Me and my cousin were the worst 8 year old demons on earth."   
  
"Who? Bennett?"  
  
"No, Isabella…you'd like her." He answered back. "Ready?" Max said yes with her head. Logan pored the water on the shirt, three times, and then gently pulled the shirt. "It's done…yeersh! That's a bad cut!" The cut was about 3 inches long, but not very deep, about 1 cm, but it was enough to make you bleed a lot.   
  
"I know, the artist is an Asian guy, about 35 years old, tall, but he forgot to sign his name." Max said, to which Logan smiled.  
  
"Always find time for mockery." He took his First Aid kit and opened it. "I have to disinfect it Max..." He stared at her. God knows how painful alcohol is on an open wound, so she took the bottle of vodka to swallow a couple of times, preparing herself.  
  
"Okay, I'm ready…can you sew me afterwards? I don't scar, so it doesn't matter if it's not done by an aesthetic surgeon. I'd do it, but the place is a bit hard for me to reach with both hands."  
  
Logan started paling just at the idea of putting a needle in her flesh.  
"No…no, I can't do that. God…" He said back to her in a breath.   
  
"It's okay Logan, I can handle the pain, plus I have Mister Stolishnaya here." Max reassured him, raising the bottle of vodka, but it didn't seem to make him more comfortable with the idea.   
Logan thought for a second while poring the disinfectant on her wound, but the moans that were getting out of her mouth because of the pain it was causing, was enough for him to keep his position.  
  
"No, Max…I can't do it, I can't hurt you like this, I'm having trouble right now putting that damn alcohol on you." He replied while gently cleaning the wound. If Max wasn't forcing herself not to grimace from the pain, and if Logan wasn't trying not to lose consciousness over the amount of blood, you could have thought while looking at them that it was a great picture.  
  
Eileen felt that her help was needed, so she stood up from her chair and knocked on the bathroom's door.  
"Can I come in?" She asked them.  
  
"Sure." Max answered. Eileen got in and looked at the wound.  
  
"Sister Florence is a nurse, and when I came to the Jesus Church, she taught me how to sew, so I could help her when we visited the shelters. I can do it if you want?" She looked at Logan, who seemed relieved and started to gain some color back on his cheeks.  
  
"Yeah, of course. How did you…?" She asked Eileen, surprised.  
  
"I just felt you needed my help, that's all." She said back. "Are you okay to stay on your two feet Julia?"  
  
"Oh yes, I didn't lose that much blood." Max answered, looking at Logan. "I've survived almost drying myself giving blood to someone once, so it's nothing." She smiled. "And call me Max."  
  
"I'm Logan."   
  
"Nice to finally know your real names. Now go take a drink or something, and I'll take care of your woman." Eileen said to Logan, smiling.  
  
"Fine…Max? I'll put your clothes in the washing machine." Logan said, taking them and rolling out of the room.  
  
"I could get used to that." Max said to Eileen.   
  
"So?" Started asking Eileen. "Why did it take so long for you two to hook up?"   
  
Max blankly stared at her, while Eileen was smiling.  
  
"I'm kidding. No need to say, I already know."  
  
*************  
  
Max got out of the bathroom with a bandage going from her middle belly to the middle of her back. She had put on a clean tank top and panties after cleaning herself up.  
  
"Thanks Eileen."  
  
"You're welcome." She answered back, going to her room, wanting to sleep.  
  
"You're alright?" Logan asked Max. "Do you want some Tylenol?"  
  
"I'm fine, it hurts a little but I'll survive. I've had worst before." She told him, going into his bedroom. "I'm going to rest a bit."  
  
"Sure, I'll take a shower anyway. Be my guest."   
  
Max put herself under the cream sheets of Logan's bed and started to fall into sleep. When she opened her eyes a little while after, she found Logan lying beside her on the covers of the bed, wearing boxers and a T-shirt. She lifted her head a few inches from her pillow and he looked at her, having sensed she was awake. He smiled.  
  
"What the hell are you doing?" Max asked him, astonished. He lost his smile and felt uncomfortable.  
  
"Oh…oh…sorry, maybe it's better for me to sleep on the couch." He said starting to sit up.  
  
Max understood what he thought she was saying and pulled him back with his shirt, laughing.  
  
"Get you're ass back in here! You understood me wrong." He stared at her, confused. "I meant to say * What the hell are you doing on the covers instead of under them, beside me*." She softly said to Logan.  
  
"Oh…well, if you insist." He wickedly answered.  
  
"But I do. I insist." She opened the sheets for him and he got in, and she put her head on his chest while he hold her, making sure he didn't press on the wound.  
  
"You're okay like this?" He wanted to be sure this wasn't an uncomfortable position. But Max was on her right side, which was all she could do. She couldn't sleep on her back or on her tummy.  
  
"Perfect." She replied, kissing him before closing her eyes, hearing his heart beat while he softly caressed her neck and shoulder. 'What did I ever do to deserve you?'  
  
********************  
  
The next chapters wont be as shippy. Lol!  
Give me reviews!  
Anna  
  
  
  



	7. Girls Interrupted

Okay, after a few terrorized emails, and being kept a prisoner in a basement by stalker fans, I thought of continuing my shippiness…hehehe.  
  
************************  
  
Y BlacK MagiC Y  
  
Chapter seven: Girls Interrupted  
  
There was a noise in the apartment. Max opened her eyes and listened silently. She glanced at the clock: 6:00am. After a few seconds of silence, she heard the shower running. 'Must be Eileen.' Max looked at the man who was next to her and smiled to herself.   
  
"Logan…?" Max whispered to him. "…let me go…" He was holding tightly to her and she wanted to change her bandages. The cut wasn't really hurting her anymore, but she had bled and needed to change the bandages for new ones. "Logan?" He didn't open his eyes but tightened his grip around her, obviously not wanting to let her go. Max smiled again. 'Does he really think I think he's still asleep?' She lifted her upper body and put her mouth to his ear and whispered "Logan…wake up sweetheart."  
  
"Ah…that's better!" Logan joyfully replied while smiling wickedly. He opened his eyes and loosened his arms that were around Max. She sat on the edge of the bed. "You're not bailing on me, are you?" Logan asked her, unsure of what were Max's intentions.  
  
"Nah…I have you now…I won't run away!" She looked at her bandages. "Just want to change them. I'll come back in a few." She stood up and walked to the bathroom - the one is Logan's bedroom.  
  
"Want some help?"   
  
"If help means you almost fainting like last night while trying to be my knight in shining armour, no thanks. I'll manage alone." Max teased.  
  
"Ouch!" Replied Logan, his male ego wounded. "That hurts!" He heard her giggle in the bathroom.  
  
Max changed the bandages without much problem; the wound was almost healed already. She returned to the bed.  
  
"How is it?" His concern was showing.  
  
"Fine, almost healed. In a few days, it won't even show." She clarified for him as she snuggled under the sheets.  
  
"Good, because you have to cook me dinner tomorrow." He took her in his arms while smiling devilishly. "You promised."  
  
"I'm a woman of my word." Max answered, back before pressing her lips on his. She couldn't quite know why his touch was driving her insane, but it just did. While they were kissing, Logan started to caress the back of Max, who pushed herself up to have her head on the same level as him. His hands ended up on her buttocks, but he took them off as quickly as they landed there. Max smiled at this and deepened the kiss, pressing her body closer to his. She could hear him breathe heavily as he started to explore her body with his hands, having received the invitation he was waiting for. Max shivered under his touch. "Logan, I love your hands on me…" The few words were whispered almost inaudible, but he heard them well.   
  
"Same here…" He said before sucking the sensitive skin of her neck, rolling Max on her back. Logan started to kiss the hollow of her throat as she caressed his bare back under his T-shirt, going up his spine and taking his shirt off. "Max…?" He asked unsure.  
  
"Shut up." Max said smacking her lips on his. They kissed passionately, and almost violently. When they broke it, it was only for both of them to ravish their skin with their mouths. As he was kissing her neck with delight, he placed his hands on her hips and slowly started to pull up her top, showing only her tummy, and lowering himself, he began a new sequence of kissing, biting and sucking -which sent waves of pleasure under her skin.   
  
After a moment, they heard a door being shut. They looked at each other.  
  
"Eileen?" Logan asked Max, catching his breath.  
  
"Or Bling?"  
  
"Not at this hour." Logan confirmed her thoughts. "It's Eileen."  
  
"Do you think she went out? It could be her bedroom's door, right? Sounded like the front door though…Do we have to baby-sit everybody?" Max sighed. "Logan?" She asked smiling but with a pleading tone.  
  
"Yes Max?" He teased her, imitating her voice.  
  
"We really will have to go on a vacation -in a Galaxy far, far away - to not be interrupted all the time."   
  
Logan chuckled, and without even thinking of it, relaxed his arms which made his body weight press on Max; she instantly let out a cry of pain.  
  
"God Max! I'm so sorry!" He said, lifting his upper body off of her. "Are you all right?" Logan felt bad for not having thought about her wound.  
  
"I'm okay." Max assured him, trying to hide the fact that it did hurt a great deal. "Just don't do it again for the next 2 days."   
  
"I'm sorry." He repeated, rolling on his back.  
  
"I'm fine Logan, I know you didn't do it on purpose. I've endured much worse in my life."  
  
"I know, but just because you are used to pain doesn't mean that you don't feel it."  
  
Max smiled, staring into the eyes that she liked so much.  
"I know." She answered softly. 'He sees me as a human, even after all he knows about me.' She told herself before kissing him tenderly.   
She then sat up and prepared to get out of bed, holding on to her bandage to make the muscles stretch less as she moved. "I'll go see if Eileen is all right and if she needs anything. Anyway, she knows it's dangerous outside, she must have gone downstairs to get the Streets Of Seattle newspaper."  
  
"Probably. Does pancakes sounds good to you for breakfast?" Logan asked, sitting in his chair.  
  
"Sure, but under one condition." Max said, putting one hand on her hip and staring at him.  
  
"What?"   
  
"That you wear your T-shirt at the table, because I don't want you to make Eileen change her mind about becoming a nun." Teased Max.  
  
"Well, don't forget she'll soon find out I'm a god in the kitchen…"  
  
"She better not find out you're a god elsewhere." Added Max with a wink. She bent down to fully kiss Logan's lips. "Mmmm…it's definitely for me to find out!" She went out the door leaving a startled Logan, still recovering from her kiss.  
  
*************  
  
"Eileen?" Max asked out loud before opening the door of Eileen's bedroom. Max had looked everywhere in the apartment and hadn't found any sign of her. The only thing that said she had been up and around was the Streets Of Seattle newspaper that was open on the kitchen table.  
  
Max opened the door after waiting a couple of seconds and found the place empty. 'Where the hell did she go?' She thought. 'She knows Lacroix and his men are out there looking for her.'  
  
She walked to the kitchen and poured a glass of orange juice while Logan went to see if he had e-mail. Max then walked near the kitchen table, and as she was nearer, her eyes caught the article of the open page.  
  
"Today, at 3:00 am in the morning at the Jesus Church, 15 Park Avenue, Sister Madeleine - the mother of the Children of The Street Shelter - was brought in an ambulance to the Metro Hospital, suffering from a heart attack."  
  
"Damn." Max said. "LOGAN?" She yelled, stood up, put her orange juice on the table and walked over to him. "Forget the pancakes, we have a situation."  
  
*************  
  
When Eileen woke up at Logan's place, she felt very rested. It has been so long that someone had come at 5:00 am to wake her up, that sleeping until 6:00 am was a blessing.  
She took a shower, and went to the kitchen, trying not to wake Max and Logan. There was an old edition of the Streets Of Seattle newspaper, so she decided to go downstairs to get today's edition. 'Wouldn't it be wonderful if they had caught that b*stard of Lacroix?' She thought, perfectly knowing the odds weren't very high for it to happen. 'One can only dream…'  
  
Once back in, she flipped through the pages of the newspaper and saw the article about Sister Madeleine. Eileen didn't think of the fact that the goons were going to be waiting for her at the front door of the hospital. All she thought of was how sweet Sister Madeleine had always been to her, and how she had kept her under her care since she was 15 years old.   
  
Eileen shut the door and ran as fast as she could to the Metro Hospital, which wasn't very far from Fogle Towers. She was so focused on finding Sister Madeleine alive and well, that she didn't see the Asian man following her. All she felt before entering the ER, was someone grabbing her from behind, and then the felt pain at the base of her neck… then there was nothing. Complete blackness.  
  
*~*~*  
  
Feeling an irritating pain at the base of her neck, she decided to open her eyes. She couldn't see much, but when she tried to clear her voice, she found out it was echoing.   
  
"Look who's waking up!" A voice said, Lacroix's voice. Eileen could swear on that. "I've been looking all over for you, and then, you just came to me. That is so sweet of you." He sarcastically said.  
  
"B*stard." Eileen managed to say in spite of the big headache she was having.  
  
"Eileen, Eileen, Eileen…what am I gonna do with you?" He asked, as he lit a candle.   
  
Eileen saw she was in an old church, probably the St-Jean Baptist one, the one who had burned 3 years ago, and wasn't rebuilt. She could hear the noises of rats and roaches running on the floor. 'Lovely…' She thought. 'What's his plan?' She asked herself, but couldn't understand any of his thoughts, and the mind of the Asian man who was in the back had a huge wall around it.  
  
"It's so nice to see you Jean, how was your trip to Europe? Or should I say to the Swiss Bank?" She asked as she tried to untie her hands from the chair she was sitting on.  
  
"Ah…I see you did some research. Tsk! Tsk! Tsk!…it was a mistake honey. You really shouldn't have."  
  
"Oh, it was a pleasure." She stared at the Asian man and returned her stare on Lacroix. "So, you are Brain and he is Pinky?"   
  
He smiled at her - a dangerous smile, the one you know means trouble's ahead.  
"Let's cut to the chase, shall we?"   
  
Eileen looked at him in the eye. For some unknown reason, she wasn't afraid of him, of them. But Eileen wasn't afraid of dying either, she was one of those people who thought that if God has decided that it is your time to go, then there was no room for argument.  
  
"Let me ask you something." She started. "Why did you do that to those poor women? How could you end their life like that? I never thought you'd do such a thing…or was it your little scout here?" She said, pointing to the Asian man.  
  
"I always knew you were a clever girl." Lacroix said in a very calm voice. He approached Eileen and sat on a chair in front of her. "Such a shame I'll have to eliminate you."  
  
Eileen knew very well the meaning of elimination.  
  
"Lacroix joined his hands together. "Money will make my life easier. I'll just disappear from the surface of this earth. I'm sick of preaching God, He never did anything for me. He can go to hell."  
  
"What a great priest you are." Snorted Eileen.  
  
"Thank you. Kim here has a very good knowledge of the incantations that were performed during the Middle Age, and for some whatever reason, it's f'***ing working!"  
  
"Mmm, and such nice language too." She added.  
  
"Shut up." He snapped. "When you see my lips moving, it means I'm still talking."  
  
"Yeah, yeah, lips moving, still talking. Got it."  
  
"If you don't shut up girl, you'll end up like those weak women." Threatened Lacroix. "You don't survive in this world if you're weak. I did them a favour."  
  
"No, I won't end up like those poor sisters, because I'm not weak, and because you need me." Answered Eileen with confidence.   
  
"You Eileen, are another story."  
  
"Entertain me then, I love bedtime stories."  
  
"Eileen honey, you are the answer to my prayers."  
  
"I doubt that, but why do you think is so?"  
  
"You control my destiny."  
  
"So I control you? Interesting…"  
  
"I need you to give me the numbers of the safe of the Jesus Church, AND you also have contacts with the other 4 churches of Seattle. I want you to give me that money." He said delightfully.  
  
"Never in Hell! Are you freakin' nuts?" Shouted Eileen. "I'll never give you the money that belongs to the people of the street, to the homeless children, to the families that need it to survive and give food to their kids."  
  
"They just have to work if they want money. Screw the poor! They just have to move off of their lazy a$$es!" Replied Lacroix with the same tone as Eileen spoke to him.   
  
"But those people are mostly sick, that is why they can't work! They are SICK, they have fatal DISEASES! Are you that heartless?" She wanted to vomit on him.  
  
"I guess I am." He smiled again. "And I had figured you'd act this way, so Kim here will use his magic on you. You'll speak Eileen."  
  
"I didn't before, why would I now?"  
  
"Last time, we didn't have enough time for you to be under our spell, and I was alone." He paused a second. "Kim here was supposed to join me later, when you'd be under my control, but we got caught by some nut kicking Jesus' butt." He angrily added.  
  
"I think I know who did it." Kim spoke for the first time. "There was a black haired girl here last night, and she kicked a$$. Big time." He looked at Eileen and then back at Lacroix. "She knows her. Name's Julia."   
  
"Julia…" Said Lacroix back to Eileen. "I'd like to meet this girl. She sabotaged my plan the other day. She'll pay." He said to her in a threatening voice.  
  
"I don't think so, she'll kick your tiny behind before you can say Jesus." Replied Eileen, smiling. "Julia's not the kind of girl who threatens easily."  
  
"Now, all you have to do is tell me the numbers of the safe - for me to take the money - and then disappear from your life."  
  
"I am not telling you those numbers." Firmly answered Eileen.  
  
"Oh really?" Said Lacroix, he made a sign with his head and Kim walked near her. She stared at him, knowing what he was about to do, and built herself a wall around her mind. Kim began to recite his Hebrew incantation, and Eileen kept fighting him. After a few minutes, he saw it wasn't working.  
  
"She's fighting back." He said to Lacroix in an Asian accent.  
  
"Fine then." He turned his head and faced her. "Tell me where this Julia lives."  
  
"Over my dead body." Eileen answered.  
  
"Well, your wish may come true honey." He said very calmly.  
  
Eileen looked up at him with a defiant look and didn't blink. She then felt a weird sensation and turned her head reluctantly towards Kim. Her eyes went wide open and then he aimed the gun that he was holding in his hand directly at her head...then he pulled the trigger.  
  
TBC…  
  
  
Tell me what you think.  
Anna  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  



	8. Momentum

I'm really, really, really sorry it took me so long. I apologise. The summer was busy and I was more out of my place than in, so my computer got lonely. :P  
  
I hope you didn't all forget what the story was all about, like some people I know…ahem…LOL!  
  
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Y BlacK MagiC Y  
Chapter Eight: Momentum  
  
"COME ON! COME ON! HURRY UP LOGAN!!!" Max yelled to him, pacing the living room ready to leave to go look for Eileen.  
  
"I'm doing my best okay? It wont be long…" Logan replied from his bedroom as he was getting dressed. Sure Max was fast in her movements, but being in a wheelchair, you can't just put your pants in 2 seconds.  
Max took a deep breath and tried to not sound impatient. "I know but Eileen could be in danger and the more we wait, the more I get nervous abut this."   
  
"I understand Max." Logan said. "I don't like it either." Max turned her head towards the voice, and saw that Logan had his hand on the doorknob, ready to leave. She smiled.  
  
"Told you it wasn't going to be long." He said with his most charming smile. Max smiled back.  
  
"Yummy…" She said to herself -but out loud- while staring at him.  
  
"What???" The surprise look of his face was priceless.  
  
"Nothing sweetie, we have to go." Max answered knowing there were more important matters to do here.  
  
"Sweetie?!!!" He said arching an eyebrow as he smiled to her.  
  
"No time for small talk…Go! Go!" Ordered Max swallowing a laugh. And then, they left the apartment.  
  
*~* ~*  
  
Eileen's eyes opened widely when she saw the Asian man, Kim, pull the trigger. That's it, I'm going to die. She closed her eyes, and then felt the biggest pain she had ever felt in her life.  
  
"AAAAaaaaahhhh.....!!!" She yelled. Opening her eyes, seeing that her right shoulder was very bloody. The pain was so intense she thought she was going to faint. Her strength took over and she looked him straight in the eyes and said firmly. "You broke my shoulder!"  
  
"Tsk! Tsk! Tsk!" Said Jean Lacroix looking at Kim like it was such a shame he had missed her. "Kim, my friend, now why did you miss her? Now she'll have to bleed to death." And to that, he faced Eileen and smiled. "Remember that you can talk to me anytime you please, and after, we could help ease the pain. It's the deal." She then understood the plan hadn't been to kill her at all. Dear god… Eileen moaned from the pain. "What is it honey, are you hurt?" Lacroix said in a little voice, like the way you'd talk to a child. This was too much.  
  
"Fuck you!" Eileen said through her teeth. To this point, she would have stood up, and strangled him.   
  
"Such big words for a nun."  
  
"I'm not a nun yet." She said, not feeling good about having said the word, but she wasn't exactly in a mood for nice words either.   
  
"Yes, yes indeed. With your track record, I guess you shouldn't be either." He said to her.   
  
"That is so low…even for you." Eileen had told him the truth about her past, and how she had had to steal from people to be able to eat before the sisters took her in.  
  
"Well, we have a lot in common: we are both thieves."  
  
"I'm not. Stealing bread to feed yourself is different then stealing millions and killing lives for it." He got a mickey out of his pocket and took a sip.  
  
"Cheers." He said, full of irony. She closed her eyes, not wanting to see him again.  
  
"Get out of my face, I wont say a word." Eileen firmly said. This annoyed Lacroix, who took a few steps closer.  
  
"We'll see." And to that, he dropped the whisky on her wound. Eileen screamed and then fell unconscious from the pain.  
  
*~*~*  
  
Max and Logan got out of the car. They entered Metro Hospital and went to the admissions desk. You couldn't just walk in to ICU like that, you had to ask first.  
  
At the desk was a girl. She was answering calls and painting her nails with and awful shade of pink. She looked like Dolly Parton. She wasn't wearing a lot of clothes, which was probably why all the men sitting in the waiting room were lurking at her. Max looked at Logan to see if she could figure out what he was thinking, but she saw that he was about to laugh. There was about 50 people sitting in the waiting room. She closed her bottle and hung up the telephone.  
  
"What can I do for ya darlin'?" She said in a very heavy southern accent. There was a noise in the background, and the girl stood up. "Harry, I already told ya to go outside. It's not a freakin' hotel here!" She said to the young man who was visibly mentally disabled. It was apparent that he had Down's Syndrome. "Go outside and sit on your chair Harry, and I'll give you your lunch in a few minutes ok?" She smiled at him and went back to Max and Logan. "My brother…there was no one to take care of him this morning, but sometimes people are afraid of him, so I have to ask him to go out. But it's for no reasons actually, he wouldn't hurt a soul."  
  
"Yes m'mam, yes m'mam. I'm going Franny." Harry said, looking down and heading for the front door. "Sitting out…out on my chair…yes ." He continued to talk to himself until he reached the doors.  
  
"We are looking for a girl who may have come here a few minutes ago. Tall, red hair, green eyes. She was looking for Sister Madeleine." Max said to the girl.  
  
"I don't recall seeing her." Franny said.   
  
"Are you sure, because she was coming here." Logan replied back. "I'm sure of it."  
  
"No. I would know, I was here all morning." She matter-of-factly said to them. "And so was Harry. He was on his chair just near the door, and he's good with observation. That boy just remember everything! He's wonderful." The girl wasn't very classy, but you could tell her heart was at the right place. "You can ask him if you want."   
  
"Thank you." Logan said. And him and Max went out to talk to Harry, who was silently sitting and looking at the birds on a tree.  
  
"Harry?" Max said gently to him, he looked at her, not sure to have the permission to talk to her. "Franny said I could ask you something about a girl who was probably here a few minutes ago."  
  
"Okay." Harry answered, staring at Max, and then staring at his feet. He smiled shyly.  
  
"Did you see a dark red hair girl." She sweetly asked Harry. "With green eyes this morning? Like a few minutes ago?"   
  
"Dark red hair…" Harry started to moan, balancing himself on his chair. "Red hair…yes, weird eyes…two men…yes." Harry said.  
  
"Two men were with her?" Logan asked.   
  
"Yes…two men…one white and one hum…not white."  
  
"His skin was sort of yellow Harry?"  
  
"Yes, yes, yellow." Harry said.  
  
"The artist." Max said to Logan, touching her wound.  
  
"What else Harry? It's very important." Logan talked with a calm voice, but he started to get anxious over this.  
  
"They…t…took her away…" Harry looked at the sky and laughed at the bird who was flying near by. "…church…" he continued. Max frowned.  
  
"The church Harry?" She asked, thinking of the Jesus Church. "Did you heard them talk about the church? The Jesus Church? It's very important."  
  
"The church…he said church…" Harry said stuttering, looking at Logan. "Church."  
  
"Okay Harry, thank you. You've been *very* helpful." Logan said, knowing they couldn't get more out of him. But what they had was good for now. Harry smiled happily. "Come on Max, we'll go see if they' re at the Jesus church." There's nothing more to do here.  
  
"Bye Harry." Max said to him. He smiled.  
  
"Bye-Bye." He replied politely staring at his knees. "Old church."  
  
Max and Logan went to the car, not talking, but both of them thinking the same thing: 'Why would they be at the Jesus Church?'  
  
*~*~*  
  
It was dark, she almost couldn't see a thing, and it was very cold, and silent. Eileen tried to keep her eyes open, but it was hard to do. She was very tired, and the pain wasn't going to fade any time soon. She tried to reposition herself a bit and that's when she noticed she was no longer sitting on a chair. She was on the floor of the church, for what it was worth. It was more cement than anything else. She suddenly felt cold, and shivered.   
  
"Hellooooooo???" Eileen risked to ask. Nobody answered. Damn those stupid excuse for the human race. She felt something smooth on her right cheek, and it was also making noises, like a squeak …ark! …sounded like a rat. "Great, now those fury things will eat me." She tried to move herself, in a way that she was able to sit up on her butt even with her hands tied behind her back. Her legs were also tied up. "If they think they'll end up with the money supposed to be for shelters, and for The Saint-Vincent de Paul's society, they are going to have to kill me before." She said out loud. "There you go Eileen, you are now talking to yourself. That's it, go on like that, it's the only way to stay sane." She looked at the ceiling when she felt a drop of water on her face. The roof had holes in it. And she could hear birds, and there were probably bats sleeping there too. "This was such a beautiful place before, now it's all ruins." She stared at the rat who was at her feet now. "Hey, you could try to get me out of here, huh?" Eileen said to the fur ball that was looking at her. It walked nearer, and then it started to gnaw her socks. "Yes, that's it, eat me you little stupid thing! Get OFF of me!!!" She kicked it and it ran away.  
After a few minutes of moving herself, she was able to stand up. "How stupid are they to have let me like this?" The chair she was sitting on before was broken at her side. She didn't want to hurt herself more than she already was, but she wanted to be able to walk. Her hands were both joined on the back, so she started to play with the rope; it was too tight to loosen. ARK! With the last drops of energy she could muster she jumped little by little following the fur ball. "Hey! You! The fur ball! Don't go so fast! Don't you see I'm trying my best now?" Eileen said with effort. If she could have yelled at the rat, she would have, but the black mouse wouldn't have listened anyway. "You came from somewhere, right? Now lets see, Furby, if you can find the way out of here."  
  
*~*~*  
  
Max and Logan were on their way to the Jesus Church when Max saw the asian man walking in the street on the other side of the road. "Him! That's the artist Logan!" She immediately hide herself from the man, almost jumping on Logan's lap in the process. "Fuck!"  
  
"Calm down Max…he didn't see you." Logan answered, trying not to stare at the man and act as if he was only waiting for the green light -which he also was. "Don't move Max, he hadn't crossed the street yet.  
  
"What is he waiting for?!" Max asked, her face on his lap.  
  
"He's talking to a cell phone." Logan said. "Okay, now he's walking…" He smiled and said to Max. "You know * darling* that a cop better not come knocking at my window here, because we'd be in trouble…"  
  
"Oh shut up Logan!!!" Max giggled. "Now lets find out where the man's going…"  
  
"Yes m'mam." The light turned green, and Max began to straight up in her seat. "MAX! WATCH OUT!!!" He yelled to her. She instantly took the position she was in before.  
  
"What?! Did he saw me? What's going on?" Max asked anxiously.  
  
"Oh nothing…I just like you there on my lap." He mockingly said.  
  
"You're dead." She replied, sitting back in her seat while Logan was having a good laugh.  
  
  
TBC…..  
  
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Give me reviews please. No reviews, no more chapters. Hehehe.  
~Anna~  
  
  
  



	9. Revelation

Thank you deeply to all of my reviewers, you are the ones who make me want to write more. I know I've been slow since some people told me so kindly…not…but I'm really trying my best. There will be one more chapter and then it will be the end. Thank you to be loyal to the story even if I started it in May. I appreciate.

THANKS to Jeanne.

*~******~*~******~*~*******~*

Y BlacK MagiC Y

Chapter nine: Revelation

Eileen was following the fur ball along the dark walls of the Saint Jean-Baptist church. Her walk was a little unsteady because the pain in her right shoulder was radiating everywhere in her body. She had rip off a piece of her shirt to be able to make a tourniquet to help stopping the bleeding. It wasn't profuse, but she had lost enough blood to make her weak. Because of the dark, Eileen wasn't able to see a lot of what was in front of her, so her right hand was touching the wall and she was following Furby, listening to the noise the little rat was making while running. She had been walking for what she thought was half an hour when she crashed into a wall. 

"Ouch!" She said out loud. She looked down and felt a hole in the wall of the size of a hand. The rat had disappeared in it. "Well, thank you very much, Furby", said Eileen sarcastically, "You knew that I couldn't go through that hole! Now how am I supposed to get out of here?" She stopped talking and thought of the front door. "Dear God! I must be the dumbest thing on earth!" She started to walk along the walls, hoping she'd find the room where she was before. She turned around, and followed the trace of her left hand on the wall. _I'm so tired._

When Eileen got to the big front door, she couldn't open it. There was a huge lock on it, and there was no way it could be broken by a human hand. _I'm stuck in here. There's no way out! But there is one for sure! They are coming in and out of here from somewhere! But which way do they take? I took this one and it was a dead end_. Eileen looked around the place, there was a small hole in the ceiling and the light was coming through it. She could see her surroundings a bit. "There's a door there." It was about 5 feet tall. _My god, was it a dwarf that built that church?! Maybe the Spanish or the Mexicans are small people. I can't remember who built the church. Well, it's true that people were small back in the days…but a 5 foot tall door isn't something you see a lot. Anyway, stop rambling Eileen, you're annoying yourself_. She opened the door and it was a small corridor that was before her eyes, dark as black oil. 

"I don't have a flashlight or matches. How can I walk in this? I can't see a thing." Eileen stopped talking because she heard  noises. Someone was coming, or maybe they were more than one, she couldn't tell. _Is it the wackos again_? She got in, closed the small door behind her and sat down, praying they wouldn't find her. 

*~*~*

Max and Logan were following the Asian man until they saw the Saint Jean-Baptist church. There they understood what Harry meant by the _old church_.

"Of course, said Logan, this church must be the oldest here in Seattle, and it's been close for 15 years." He explained to Max. "I should have thought of it." 

"Alzheimers happens when you focus too much on the lady trying to hide herself from a mad man, while her…( she hesitated)… _partner_ here is making jokes of her being on his lap." Max said smiling at Logan.

"Yeah…" He said, hiding a smile. "But usually, I can focus on two things at the same time…even three."

"Oh is that right?! Well Mister Multitask, we should pull over and get out of the car before the Artist sees us."

"That's what I was doing, didn't you see?" Logan said as he was parking his car two streets away from the church.

Max smiled and opened the door to get out. "We'll have to be careful you know, these guys are nuts." She saw Logan take his gun and placing it in his jacket's pocket. "I hate guns…"

"I know Max but we have to be careful as you said, and I can't be your Superman, so this piece of metal can save us. I'll use it only if we truly need it. It's there just in case."

 "Yeah, alright. But _just_ in case.

 "I promise." Logan said.

They were careful not to be seen by the man and followed him until he reached a trap behind the church, above the cemetery. It was looking like one of those traps they used to make in the early days to protect your family against tornados. He had the key to the lock. They watched him going in and then he looked at his watch, stared somewhere as if he was waiting for someone to appear, and then got in, letting the door an inch open. Nice.

"Logan, you can't come in." Said Max. "There are stairs." 

"It's okay, I'll find another way." He answered back, turning his chair and wheeling away from Max. "Be careful."

"You too." She said before disappearing. It was a very dark corridor, she could see it, but a human eye would have trouble seeing anything. Max slowed down a bit, because she didn't want to walk faster than the Artist. It wouldn't be a good thing for him to find out she was there. Better keep it quiet for a while. She stopped. There was a noise, it was a female's voice. Eileen's. _Oh shit!_

*~*~*

Eileen was almost asleep because she was so tired and it seemed like it had been hours since she got in there –even if it had only been a few minutes. She woke up when she heard a sound coming near her and then she felt someone grabbing her. 

"What the hell are you doing here?" Said Kim the Asian man. She let out a cry of pain when he grabbed her by her broken arm. 

"I was taking some sun." she said. _Oh dear this is never going to stop…_

*~*~*

Logan tried his best to find another passage to go in the church, but there was only the front door he could think of. He tried to unlock it. Didn't work. "Dammit! I know Eileen's in there! I have no other choice then, I won't stay here and do nothing." He got his gun out and fired. The lock exploded and he was able to get in. "Good thing it's a silencer." He didn't want to alert all of the neighbourhood. He rolled in.

He hadn't gone a few feet when he heard someone. He went slowly to make as little noise possible, but it was hard on an old floor to stay silent while wheeling. He got the gun in his hand, ready to shoot, and then he looked. There was the Asian man who was forcing a pretty messed up Eileen to stand on her feet. _She looks awful._

"Where do you think you were going like that missy?" He said to Eileen in a strong accent. He didn't look very happy. He took his gun out, and it was then that Logan decided to show himself.

"Hold it right there!" Logan yelled to the man pointing his gun right between Eileen's eyes. "One move and I swear on my mother's grave I'll shoot, and I won't miss you." The Artist stared at Logan, daring him to shoot, but Logan was ready to pull the trigger. The guy dropped the gun and kicked it towards Logan. He was even more ready when he saw Max coming slowly and without any noise behind them. He tried not to blink, instead he looked at Eileen, who was barely conscious.

"What did you do to her? She's bleeding." He asked him, wanting to break the silence to give Max some time to get near them.

"A bullet in the shoulder." He answered, pretty much proud of himself.

 "What about a kick in the head?" Max said just before smacking the hell out of him. He fell unconscious. "Jerk."

"Well done." Logan said while aiming his gun away from Max's face. "She's in pretty bad shape."

Max bent on her knees and checked Eileen's vitals. "She's alive but her pulse is weak. We should get her to a hospital soon or she'll die Logan." 

"I know. We should go." Logan's face changed when he saw Lacroix's face, and the gun he was aiming at Max who had Eileen in her arms. 

"Not so fast folks." Lacroix said staring at Max. "You're a strong woman I see." 

"How clever." She hadn't stopped walking towards the front door.

"Stop or I'll shoot." He meant his words, and he ignored that he had Logan's gun aimed at his forehead. Funny how people think that people in wheelchair are harmless. Huge prejudice. 

"She will die." Max said matter-of-factly, as if he cared what would happen to Eileen.

"I'm touched." He sounded so genuine. "I'll cry my eyes out before going to sleep tonight." 

 "Shut up!" Max said.

"No. You shut up!" He answered ready to shoot, but he didn't have the time to do so. Logan did it first and he got the bullet right between his eyes. Max's eyes became wide open and she stared at him. He was still in the position to shoot again.

"Logan…?" Max asked softly. "Logan get the gun down, he's dead now." She put Eileen on the floor and walked slowly up to him to take the gun out of his hands.

"He was going to shoot you…" Logan answered back weakly. "I…couldn't…I…" He started to say.

"I know." Max softly said. "Give me your cell phone, ok? I'll call Matt. Don't worry, Matt will understand. It was self-defence, Logan."

Max called Matt and told him to take care of the 911 for an ambulance to come and take Eileen on the nearest hospital, because she didn't want any trouble with the police right now. She didn't need to have her picture and Logan's in the Streets of Seattle paper. He said everything was taken care of. _Bless that man_, she thought.

She came near Logan after being sure that Eileen's wound wasn't bleeding too much and she talked to him. "You did what you had to do, Logan. Remember at Cape Heaven? It's the same thing." She had tears in her eyes to see him feel so hurt. "You just saved my life, Logan, and Eileen's. I didn't think he was going to shoot but you know me? I always think I'm the Supergirl. You were right, he would have." She sat on his lap and put her head on his shoulder, both of them waited in silence for the help to arrive.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Merry Christmas everybody and Happy new year , and please give me reviews. ~Anna~


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